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DEATH-BLOW 


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SPIRITUALISM; 


REI3SrC3- 

THE    TRUE    STORY    OF    THE    FOX    SISTERS. 

AS      REVEALED      BY     AUTHORITY     OF 

MARGARET      FOX      KANE      AND 

CATHERINE  FOX  J£NCKEN. 


REUBEN    BRIGOS    DAVENF-ORX. 


New  YORK ! 

C.  W.  DILLIHGHIIM  CO., 

PUBLISHERS. 


.^,^^m 


'(/¥/'. 


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0807.     THE  DEATH  BLOW  TO  SPIRITUALISM. 

Being  the  true  story  of  the  Fox  sisters,  as  revealed  by  authority  of  Marg. 
Fox  Kane  and  Catherine  Fox  Jencken.  Written  by  R.  B.  Davenport.  147  pag 
Deathblow  to  Spiritualism.     R.  B.  Davenport.    .    .    .^  .    ,    .  _._.  "         1  .^<> 

OCT.    1S»7.  ISSUED    MONTHLY.  ««.00    PER   YEAII. 

ENTERED  AT  THE   NEW  YO^K   POST    OFFICE  AS  SECOND-CLASS    MATTER. 

THE 

DEATH-BLOW 

TO 

SPIRITUALISM: 


BEING 

THE    TRUE   STORY    OF    THE    FOX   SISTERS,    AS    RE- 
VEALED BY  AUTHORITY  OF  MARGARET  FOX 
KA]^  AND  CATHERINE  FOX  JENCKEN. 


BY 

REUBEN  BRIGGS   DAVENPORT. 


^. 


NEW    YORK: 
G.     W,    Dilltngha77t     Co,,    Publishers. 

MDCCCXCVII. 


Copyright,  1888. 

BY 

Reuben  Bkiggs  Davenport. 
[AH  Rights  Resei'ved.l 


GIFT 


EDUC.     / 
PSYCH. 


TO 

MES.  HESTER  S.  DWINELLE. 


"  Alonso.     This  is  as  strange  a  maze  as  ere  men  trod, 
And  there  is  in  this  business  more  than  nature 
Was  ever  conduct  of :  some  oracle 
Must  rectify  our  knowledge. 

'♦  Prospero.  Sir,  my  liege, 

Do  not  infest  your  mind  with  beating  on 
The  strangeness  of  this  business  :  at  picked  leisure, 
Which  shall  be  shortly,  single  I'll  resolve  you 
(Which  to  you  shall  seem  probable)  of  every 
These  happen'd  accidents  :  till  when  be  cheerful,^ 
And  think  of  each  thing  well.— Come  hither,  spirit; 
Set  Caliban  and  his  companions  free : 

Untie  the  apelV 

Shakespeare.— 7^5  Tempest 

[iii] 


587 


PREFACE. 


This  book  has  been  written  in  extreme  haste.  It  does 
not  pretend  to  literary  style.  But  it  pretends  to  absolute 
truthfulness  and  a  reverent  regard  for  justice. 

Its  solo  value  is  its  character  as  a  contribution  to  the 
real  history  of  Spirit ualii^m.  As  such,  it  is  unquestion- 
ably of  groat  importance,  greater  eveji  than  any  work  of 
the  kind  that  has  been  published  since  the  beginning  of 
modern  Spiritualism. 

It  is,  in  fact,  what  its  title  sets  forth—*-  The  DEATH- 
BLOW  TO  SPIRITUALISM.*^ 

No  one  who  does  not  love  illusion  for  illusion's  sake — 
better,  in  other  words,  than  ho  loves  the  trutli — can, 
after  reading  this  volume,  remain  a  follower  of  Spirit- 
ualism and  its  hyjx)critical  apostles. 

The  full  authorization  of  Mrs.  Marqjleet  Fox  Kaxe 
and  Mi*s,  Catherine  Fox  Jexcjeex  for  the  publication 
of  this  work  will  be  found  on  the  next  to  the  followir^g 
piige, 

2dtA  October,  ISSS. 


We  hereby  approve  of  Mr.  Reuben 
B.  Davenport's  design  to  write  a 
true  account  of  the  origin  of 
Spiritualism  and  of  our  connection 
therewith,  and  we  authorize  him  to 
make  proper  use  of  all  data  and 
material  that  we  furnish  him. 
New  York,  15th  Oct. ,  1888. 


CONTENTS 


nrcRODucTioir. 
Poetic  Justice  of  the  Exposure.        • 


13 


n. 


BENUNCIATION. 
Chapter. 

I.  "  God  Has  Not  Ordered  It/' 
II.  The  Discomfited  Enemy. 

III.  A  Second  Blow.     . 

IV.  The  Hand  of  the  Persecutor. 
V.  Solemn  Abjuration.       •        • 


Page 

39 
53 
60 
65 


m. 

HISTORY,  • 


VI.  Origin  of  the  Fraud.     . 
VII.  Garbled  and  Distorted  Testimony. 


81 

94 


iz 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter 

VIII.  Development  of  the  Fraud. 
IX.  The  Mercenary  Campaign.    . 
X.  Spiritualistic  Boomerangs.     . 
XI.  The  Supreme  Audacity  of  Fraud 
XII.  A  Scientific  Jury. 
XIIL  The  Unalterable  Verdict. 


Page 
102 

121 
131 
150 
164 
201 


IV. 

EEPENTANOB, 


XIV.  The  Heart  Pleads  for  the  Soul. 
XV.  From  Shadow  to  Light. 


.  209 
.  231 


Index •       ...  241 


I. 

INTRODUCTION. 


mTEODUCTION. 


POETIC  JUSTICE  OF  THE  EXPOSURE. 

That  the  inventors  of  an  infamous  fraud 
should  deal  to  it  its  death-blow,  is  the  poetic 
justice  of  fate. 

Over  the  creature,  the  creator  has  power  of 
life  and  death. 

The  creators  of  Spiritualism  abjure  its  infamy. 

They  decree  its  death. 

They  condemn  it  to  final  destruction. 

They  fasten  upon  those  who  continue  to  prac- 
tice it  the  obloquy  of  history,  and  the  scorn  of 
mankind  for  all  time  to  come. 

Margaret  and  Catharine  Fox,  the  youngest 
of  three  sisters,  were  the  first  to  produce  **  spirit- 
ualistic manifestations." 

[18] 


14:  POETIC   JUSTICE    OF   THE    EXPOSURE. 

They  are  now  the  most  earnest  in  denun- 
ciation of  those  impostures ;  the  most  eager  to 
dissipate  the  fooKsh  behef  of  thousands  in  the 
flimsiest  system  of  deception  that  was  ever 
cloaked  with  the  hypocrisy  of  so-called  religion. 

When,  as  by  accident,  they  discovered  a 
method  of  deceiving  those  around  them  by  means 
of  mysterious  noises,  they  were  but  little  children, 
innocent  of  the  thought  of  wrong,  ignorant  of  the 
world  and  the  world's  guile,  and  imagining  only 
that  what  they  did  was  a  clever  lark,  such  as  the 
adult  age  easily  pardons  to  exuberant  and 
sprightly  youth. 

Not  to  them  did  the  base  suggestion  come  that 
this  singular,  this  simple  discovery,  should  be  the 
means  of  deluding  the  world,  of  exalting  them  in 
the  minds  of  the  weakly  credulous  and  of  bringing 
them  fame  and  splendor  and  sumptuous  pleasure. 

No  one  who  learns  their  true  history  can  still 
believe  them  guilty  of  the  willful  inception  of 
this  most  grotesque,  most  transparent  and  cor- 
rupting of  superstitions. 


POETIC    JUSTICE    OF   THE    EXPOSURE.  15 

The  idea  had  its  monstrous  birth  in  older 
heads,  heads  that  were  seconded  by  hearts  lack- 
ing the  very  essence  of  truth  and  the  fountain 
of  honest  human  sympathy. 

The  two  children,  who  had  at  first  delighted, 
as  younghngs  will,  in  what  was  but  a  laughable 
mystification,  were  dragged  into  a  sordid,  wicked 
and  loathsome  speculation,  built  upon  lying  and 
fraud,  as  unforgivable  as  the  sin  of  Satan,  and  of 
which  they  were  but  the  unthinking  instru- 
ments, often  reluctant  and  remorseful,  yet  docile 
and  compliant  by  nature. 

Thus  the  "  Eochester  knockings,"  the  example 
and  prototype  of  all  later  so-called  spiritualistic 
**  phenomena,"  began  merely  in  a  curious  childish 
freak,  disguised  without  effort,  and  which,  from 
the  first,  was  encouraged  to  partly  formed  under- 
standings by  the  wonder  and  intense  spirit  of 
inquiry  it  provoked. 

The  young  operators  were  carried  away  by  the 
undreamt-of  current  of  enthusiasm  and  awe  in 
which  they  soon  became  involved.    They  felt  the 


16  POETIC   JUSTICE   OF  THE   EXPOSURE. 

natural  need  of  maintaining  with  unabating  dex- 
terity, that  false  sense  of  the  miraculous  which 
by  chance  they  had  called  forth. 

Thus  they  went  from  one  stage  to  another  of 
this  queer  illusion,  and,  being  compelled  by  a 
harder  and  more  mature  intelligence  to  repeat 
their  part  over  and  over  again,  became  the  chief 
means  of  establishing  that  injurious  behef  in 
communications  from  the  spirits  of  the  departed, 
of  which  such  great  numbers  have  become  the 
victims. 

Many  an  older  offender  against  common  sense, 
reason  and  strict  morality  persists  through  force 
of  circumstance  in  the  pathway  he  has  chosen, 
and  does  not  turn  backward,  merely  because  he 
cannot  do  so  without  wearing  the  face  of  shame. 

From  such  slight  and  trivial  beginning  came 
the  great  movement — great  because  of  the  num- 
ber which  it  comprised  and  of  the  sensation 
which  attended  its  progress — that  for  more 
than  forty  years  has  alternately  surprised,  puz- 
zled, disgusted  and  amused  the  world. 


POETIC   JUSTICE   OF   THE   EXPOSURE.  17 

From  so  little  a  plant  has  grown  a  gigantic 
weed  of  deceit,  corruption  and  fraud,  nurtured 
upon  the  fatterdng  lust  of  money,  and  of  the 
flesh. 

What  has  developed  from  it  is  not  alone  a 
system  of  so-called  communications  through  a 
puerile  code  of  signals  with  an  unseen  world  ; 
but,  as  Dante  describes,  in  his  incomparable  epic, 
forms  of  monstrosity  which  combine  a  hideous 
human  semblance  and  a  loathly  animal  foulness, 
so  this  venomous  evil  has  become  conglomerate 
in  its  hateful  phases  of  delusion,  and  its  petty 
sordidness  and  depravity. 

Thus  the  Tuscan  bard  describes  the  spirit  of 
fraud  : 

"  '  Lo  !  the  fell  monster  with  the  deadly  sting  I 
Who  passes  mountains,  breaks  through  fenced  walls 
And  firm  embattled  spears,  and  with  his  filth 
Taints  all  the  world  !     Thus  me  my  guide  addressed. 
And  beckon'd  him,  that  he  should  come  to  shore. 
Near  to  the  stony  causeway's  utmost  edge. 

"  Forthwith  that  image  vile  of  fraud  appeared. 


18  POETIC   JUSTICE   OF  THE   EXPOSURE. 

His  head  and  upper  part  exposM  on  land, 
But  laid  not  on  the  shore  his  bestial  train. 
His  face  the  semblance  of  a  just  man's  wore. 
So  kind  and  gracious  was  its  outward  cheer  ; 
The  rest  was  serpent  all ;  two  shaggy  claws 
Reach'd  to  the  armpits,  and  the  back  and  breast. 
And  either  side,  were  painted  o'er  with  nodes 
And  orbits.     Colors  variegated  more 
Nor  Turks  nor  Tartars  e'er  on  cloth  of  state 
With  ■    '•erchangeable  embroidery  wove. 
Nor  spread  Arachne  o'er  her  curious  loom. 
As  of ttimes  a  light  skiff,  moor'd  to  the  shore. 
Stands  part  in  water,  part  upon  the  land  ; 
Or,  as  where  dwells  the  greedy  German  boor, 
The  beaver  settles  watching  for  his  prey  ; 
So  on  the  rim,  that  fenced  the  sand  with  rock. 
Sat  perched  the  fiend  of  evil.     In  the  void 
Glancing,  his  tail  upturned  its  venomous  fork. 
With  sting  like  scorpion's  armed/' 

The  world  has  not  seen  in  all  its  long  pro- 
cession of  follies,  vagaries,  and  strange  mania, 
one  so  utterly  devoid  of  a  reasonable  foundation 
as  this. 

Yet  none  has  been  more  eagerly  believed  ;  and 


POETIC   JUSTICE    OF   THE    EXPOSURE.  19 

this  very  tendency  has  evolved  into  so  strong  a 
desire  to  believe  that  thousands  of  those  who 
have  professed  to  investigate  it  have  done  so  only 
ostensibly,  their  eyes,  figuratively  speaking, 
tightly  bandaged,  to  shut  out  everything  but  the 
artificial  vision  that  they  were  most  eager  to  see. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  world  will  now  form 
its  ultimate  conclusion  upon  this  flagrant  and 
audacious  system  of  humbuggery  :— tL^.c,  regarded 
as  a  superstition,  it  ranks  even  below  voudooism 
and  fetich-worship,  and,  as  an  illusion,  below  the 
effects  produced  by  the  most  ordinary  magician 
at  a  country  fair. 

Dragged  into  this  life  when  infants,  rescued 
from  it  for  an  interval  by  two  men-  w^hose  names 
are  historical,  the  one  as  a  hero  and  explorer,  the 
other  as  a  journalist  and  daily  philosopher ;  borne 
back  to  it  again  by  the  tide  of  ill-fortune  ;  used 
and  controlled,  by^hose  whose  heart's  were  ^*dry 
as  summer's  dust,"  for  their  own  hateful  pur- 
poses; menaced    when  conscience  rebelled  and 

*  Dr.  Kane  and  Horace  Greeley. 


20  POETIC   JUSTICE   OF   THE   EXPOSURE. 

suggested  retraction  and  amends  ;  driven  to  seek 
momentary  oblivion  of  their  present  degradation 
in  a  vice  that  was  the  result  of  their  enforced 
public  career  ;  finally,  persecuted  in  a  stealthy 
and  treacherous  vs^ay  by  those  v^ho  had  profited 
most  by  the  fraud  that  they  had  set  up,  because 
it  v^as  feared  that  sooner  or  later  they  could  no 
longer  keep  silent  and  would  betray  its  real  ori- 
gin ;  seeing  their  existence  slipping  away  from 
them  with  nothing  but  Dead  Sea  fruit  remaining 
to  their  bitter  portion  ;  feeling  more  and  more  the 
need  of  an  atonement  to  conscience  and  the  opin- 
ion of  the  world — Margaret  and  Catherine  Fox 
now  denounce  and  anathematize  Spiritualism  as 
absolutely  and  utterly  false  from  beginning  to 
end  ;  and  they  declare  their  solemn  intention  to 
devote  themselves  henceforth  to  the  noble  task  of 
undoing  the  great  evil  which  they  have  done,  and 
of  leaving  no  single  stone  of  foundation  behind 
them  for  weak-minded  future  generations  to  base 
a  futile  faith  upon. 

In  these  pages  will  be  found  the  full   and 


POETTO  JTTSTICE   OF  THE  EXPOSURE.  21 

truthful  story  of  Spiritualism,  as  it  was  and  is,  as 
gathered  from  the  lips  of  both  Margaret  Fox 
Kane  and  Catharine  Fox  Jencken,  and  verified  by- 
letters,  documents  and  published  data.  It  is  writ- 
ten with  their  fuU  knowledge  and  earnest  sanc- 
tion. 

The  bold  fabric  of  lies  built  up  to  sustain  the 
claim  that  the  '^  rappings  "  in  which  aU  spiritual- 
istic so-called  phenomena  originated  were  unac- 
countable except  on  the  supernatural  hypothesis, 
can  no  longer  be  cited  to  an  intelHgent  mind.  The 
elaborate  narrative  published  by  the  eldest  sister, 
Mrs.  Ann  Leah  Fox  Underbill,  who  is  now  the 
only  remaining  stay  of  spiritualistic  deception,  is 
proven  to  be  false  from  title-page  to  finis. 

I  have  given  in  the  following  pages,  the  real 
lives  of  Mrs.  Kane  and  Mrs.  Jencken,  in  so  far  as 
they  bear  in  any  important  degree  upon  the 
development  of  the  fraud  of  Spiritualism. 


n. 

RENUNCIATION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

GOD  HAS  NOT  ORDERED  IT. 

The  world  of  '* spiritualists"  and  non-spirii>- 
ualists  was  startled  on  the  24:th  of  September, 
1888,  by  the  publication  in  the  New  York  Herald, 
of  an  article  with  the  following  head-hnes  : 

"GOD  HAS  NOT  ORDERED  IT." 


A  Celebrated   Medium  Says  the 
Spirits  Never  Return. 


CAPTAIN    KANE'S    WIDOW. 


One  of  the  Fox  Sisters  Promises  an  In- 
teresting Exposure  of  Fraud. 

To  many,  an  article  of  this  kind  seemed  in  a 

degree  sensational.     Not  to  those,  however,  who 
%  [25] 


26  GOD   HAS   NOT   ORDERED   IT. 

had  previously  had  some  inkling  of  the  secret 
history  of  Spiritualism,  and  who  for  years  had 
looked  for  the  day  of  its  inevitable  confounding. 

A  sudden  disclosure  like  this,  by  one  of  the 
^^  Mothers  of  Spiritualism,"  if  the  term  may  be 
used,  suggested  a  sort  of  reckless  vagary,  a 
species  of  extravagance,  due,  as  might  have 
been  fancied,  to  some  abnormal  condition  of  the 
mind. 

Yet  to  those  who  had  had  an  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  Maggie  Fox  Kane  this  step  had  long 
been  foreshadowed.  As  will  appear  later,  no  one 
could  have  imagined  the  real  intensity  of  moral 
pain  that  for  years  she  had  endured. 

In  recent  years,  both  she  and  her  sister,  Cath- 
arine Fox  Jencken,  had  been  but  poorly  provided 
with  this  world's  goods.  Obliged  to  depend 
almost  wholly  on  themselves  for  support,  they 
had  dropped  more  and  more  out  of  sight,  till  the 
public  at  last  hardly  recognized  their  names,  if 
perchance  they  appeared  in  print,  as  those  of  the 
principal  instruments  in  the  founding  of  Spirit- 


GOD   HAS  NOT   OEDEBED   IT.  27 

ualism.  For  this,  there  was  a  reason.  It  was  a 
deep-seated  and  long  increasing  disgust  with  their 
fraudulent  profession — the  fuller  realization  to 
their  minds,  as  their  knowledge  of  the  world 
grew  broader,  of  the  monstrous  evil  to  which, 
innocently  at  first,  they  had  given  birth.  So  at 
intervals  they  were  filled  with  despairing  despon- 
dency and  remorse.  Their  weaknesses,  their  self- 
indulgence,  their  lack  of  providence  for  them- 
selves, are  largely  attributable  to  these  causes. 
It  could  not  be  said  of  them  that  they  were  ever 
remarkably  selfish,  or  cold-hearted  or  calcula- 
ting. Such  a  character,  however,  has  of  right 
been  coupled  with  the  name  of  their  elder  sister, 
who  by  reason  of  the  ties  of  blood  and  of  her 
older  experience  ought  long  ago  to  have  led  them 
out  of  the  by-ways  of  imposture,  instead  of  per- 
sistently seeking  to  shut  off  their  escape  from 
this  horrible  bondage,  and  to  plunge  them  deeper 
into  the  mire  of  guilt  and  infamy,  so  that  the 
chance  of  their  rising  above  it,  and  denouncing  it, 
might  grow  less  and  less. 


28  GOD  HAS  NOT  OBDERED  IT. 

The  impulse  to  set  herself  right  on  the  record 
of  the  world,  after  years  of  enslavement  in  the 
hateful  gyves  of  charlatanism,  must  stand  to 
Maggie  Fox's  credit  alone.  It  sprang  from  her 
own  bosom,  not  from  the  inspiration,  sugges- 
tion or  persuasion  of  any  one  else.  Eeturning 
from  Europe  in  September,  1888,  after  a  pecuhar 
experience,  which  had  convinced  her  that  those 
chiefs  of  spiritualistic  fraud  who  feared  her  and 
her  sister,  because  they  held  the  key  of  the  whole 
of  the  artificial  mystery,  were  bent  upon  persecut- 
ing them  into  an  abject  silence,  she  at  once  put 
in  execution  the  resolution  which  had  been  so 
long  in  process  of  growth,  but  until  then  had 
never  been  fully  ripened. 

This  was  to  effect  the  unquahfied  exposure 
of  the  false  system  of  Spiritualism.  She  natu- 
rally chose  as  a  medium  for  her  repentant  message 
to  the  world,  that  great  cosmopolitan  journal,  the 
Neiu  York  Herald,  which  is  known  in  every 
corner  of  the  earth,  and  is  ever  ready  to  perform 
an  important  service  to  mankind.      Before  she 


GOD    HAS    NOT    ORDERED   IT.  29 

started  on  her  homeward  voyage,  she  committed 
herself  once  and  for  all  to  this  courageous  and 
worthy  step. 

The  disclosures  regarding  the  notorious 
Madam  Diss  De  Barr  had  offended  Mrs.  Kane 
more  than  anything  which  had  occurred  in  Spirit- 
ualism in  a  long  time,  for  they  presented  the 
enforced  association  of  her  name  and  the  sim- 
ple, childish  origin  of  the  ''  Eochester  knock- 
ings,*'  with  the  gross  and  revolting  frauds  which 
had  been  their  outgrowth.  So  imbued  had  she 
become,  by  this  time,  with  the  idea  that  the 
developed  system  of  Spiritualism  was  something 
to  be  loathed,  as  Milton  loathed  the  hideous  crea- 
ture who  sat  by  the  inner  portals  of  hell,  that 
words  could  not  express  her  utter  scorn  and 
hatred  of  this  common  woman,  who  posed  as  an 
agent  of  sacred  communications  between  the  liv- 
ing and  the  dead. 

The  New  York  Herald  of  May  27,  1888,  con- 
tained this  letter,  wiitten  by  Mrs.  Margaret  Fox 
Kane  in  London : 


30  GOD    HAS   NOT    ORDERED   IT. 

THE  CUESE  OF  SPIRITUALISM. 


GowER  Street,  Bedford  Square,  W.  C,  ) 
Lojs-DON,  Mat  14,  1888.      ) 

To  THE  Editor  of  the  Herald  : 

I  read  in  the  Herald  of  Saturday,  May  5,  an  ac- 
count of  the  sad  misfortune  that  has  befallen  my  dear 
sister  Katie,  Mrs.  Kate  Fox  Jencken,  and  in  the  article 
it  is  stated  that  I  am  still  a  resident  of  New  York,  which 
is  a  mistake.  I  sailed  for  England  on  the  22d  of  March, 
and  I  presume  my  absence  has  added  to  my  darling 
sister's  depressed  state  of  mind.  The  sad  news  has 
nearly  killed  me.  My  sister's  two  beautiful  boys  referred 
to  are  her  idols. 

Spiritualism  is  a  curse.  God  has  set  His  seal  against 
it  I  I  call  it  a  curse,  for  it  is  made  use  of  as  a  covering 
for  heartless  persons  like  the  Diss  De  Barrs,  and  the 
vilest  miscreants  make  use  of  it  to  cloak  their  evil 
doings.  Fanatics  like  Mr.  Luther  R.  Marsh,  Mr.  John  L. 
O'Sullivan,  ex-Minister  to  Portugal,  and  hundreds  equally 
as  learned,  ignore  the  'Wrappings"  (which  is  the  only  part 
of  the  phenomena  that  is  worthy  of  notice)  and  rush 
madly  after  the  glaring  humbugs  that  flood  New  York. 
But  a  harmless  "message''  that  is  given  through  the 
'Wrappings"  is  of  little  account  to  them  ;  they  want  the 
''spirit"  to  come  to  them  in  full  forpi,  to  walk  before 


GOD   HAS   NOT   ORDERED   IT.  31 

them,  talk  to  them,  to  embrace  them,  and  all  such  non* 
sense,  and  what  is  the  result  ?  Like  old  Judge  Edmonds 
and  Mr.  Seybert,  of  Philadelphia,  they  become  crazed, 
and  at  the  direction  of  their  fraud  ^^  mediums  "  they  are 
induced  to  part  with  all  their  worldly  possessions  as  Avell 
as  their  common  sense,  which  God  intended  they  should 
hold  sacred.  Mr.  Marshes  experience  is  but  another 
example  of  hundreds  who  have  preceded  him. 

No  matter  in  what  form  Spiritualism  may  be  pre- 
sented, it  is,  has  been  and  always  will  be  a  curse  and  a 
snare  to  all  who  meddle  with  it.  No  right  minded  man 
or  woman  can  think  otherwise. 

I  have  found  that  fanatics  are  as  plentiful  among 
^'  inferior  men  and  women  "  as  they  are  among  the  more 
learned.  They  are  all  alike.  They  cannot  hold  their 
fanaticism  in  check,  and  it  increases  as  their  years 
increase.  All  they  will  ever  achieve  for  their  foolish 
fanaticism  will  be  loss  of  money,  softening  of  the  brain 
and  a  lingering  death. 

MARGARET  F.  KANE. 

This  anathema  dismayed  those  who  had  basely 
profited  by  Spiritualism,  and  it  brought  a  deeper 
shock  to  the  hearts  of  many  T^ho  were  sincere 
believers.      The    pubhcation,    however,    m    the 


32  GOD   HAS   NOT    ORDERED   IT. 

Herald,  three  months  later,  of  an  interview  with 
Mrs.  Kane  on  her  arrival  in  this  city,  the  striking 
head-lines  of  which  I  have  cited  above,  capped 
the  chmax  of  consternation.  This  article  is  well 
worthy  of  reproduction. 

The  eccentric  circles  wherein  *'  isms  '^  reign  in  dis- 
cordant supremacy  will  be  probably  as  deeply  exercised 
over  an  approaching  exposure  of  the  tricks  and  illusions 
of  Spiritualism,  as  they  were  over  the  rude  logic  of  com- 
mon sense  and  justice  which  drew  aside  the  thin  veil  of 
fraud  in  the  case  of  Madam  Diss  De  Barr,  and  revealed 
the  real  nature  of  her  flimsy  system  of  deception  in  all 
its  vulgar  absurdity. 

I  called  yesterday  at  a  modest  little  house  in  West 
Forty-fourth  street,  and  was  received  by  a  small,  mag- 
netic woman  of  middle  age,  whose  face  bears  the  traces 
of  much  sorrow  and  of  a  world-wide  experience.  She 
was  negligently  dressed,  and  she  was  not  in  the  calmest 
possible  mood.  But  she  knew  what  she  was  talking 
about  when,  in  response  to  my  questions,  she  told  a  story 
of  as  strange  and  fantastic  a  life  as  has  ever  been 
recorded,  and  declared  over  and  over  again  her  intention 
of  balancing  the  account  which  the  world  of  humbug- 
loving  mortals  held  against  her,  by  making  a  clean  breast 


GOD  «A8    NOT   ORDERED   IT.  33 

of  all  her  former  miracles  and  wonders.  In  intervals  of 
her  talk,  when  she  had  risen  from  her  chair,  and  paced 
the  room,  or  had  covered  her  face  with  her  hands  and 
almost  sobbed  with  emotion,  she  would  seat  herself  sud- 
denly at  a  piano  and  pour  forth  fitful  floods  of  wild, 
incoherent  melody,  which  coincided  strangely  with  that 
reminiscent  weird ii ess  which,  despite  its  cynical  reality, 
still  characterized  the  scene. 

This  woman,  albeit  a  notorious  career  has  classed  her 
with  mountebanks  and  worse  in  the  minds  of  reasonable 
beings,  had  yet  by  some  element  or  other  in  her  character 
retained  a  degree  of  public  respect.  Perhaps  it  is 
because  months  ago  she  abandoned  the  art  of  deception 
and  has  since  to  her  intimate  friends  evinced  no  ordinary 
measure  of  contempt  for  all  who  still  pursue  it.  She 
is  known  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  and  when  in 
London,  is  entertained  by  some  of  the  best-to-do  of  the 
great  and  comprehensive  middle  class. 

Circumstances  bad  brought  me  to  this  house,  and  I 
did  not  at  first  know  her.  I  soon  found,  however,  that 
this  was  the  most  famous  of  the  celebrated  trio  of  witches, 
the  Fox  sisters,  among  the  earliest  spiritualistic  mediums 
in  this  country.  She  is  also  the  widow  of  Dr.  Elisha 
Kent  Kane,  the  heroic  Arctic  explorer,  who  died  of  the 
effects  of  his  exposure  in  searching  for  Sir  John  Franklin 
and  his  ill-fated  party.  Mrs.  Margaret  Fox  Kane  has 
3* 


34  GOD    HAS    NOT    ORDERED    IT. 

lately  returned  from  England  for  a  brief  visit  here,  and 
she  purposes  in  a  very  short  time  to  deliver  just  one 
lecture,  and  no  more,  which  shall  shame  and  dumfound 
all  the  spiritualistic  frauds  who  have  not  yet  repented 
into  poverty  or  exile  of  their  nebulous  ways.  She  will 
reveal  one  after  another  of  the  methods  by  which  willing 
believers  have  been  so  briskly  duped  and  robbed,  and 
will  herself  demonstrate  how  simple,  natural  and  easy 
are  most  of  those  methods. 

Brooding  upon  the  troubles  that  had  been 
brought  upon  her  by  Spiritualism  and  on  her 
personal  guilt  in  connection  with  it,  it  is  hardly 
strange  that  Mrs.  Kane,  even  when  bent  upon 
making  a  sweeping  confession  of  the  whole 
imposture,  should  in  intervals  of  nervous  excite- 
ment have  turned  to  the  thought  of  suicide. 

^^'My  troubles  weighed  upon  me,''  she  said, 
*  and  when  I  was  coming  over  on  the  Italy,  I  do 
believe  that  I  should  have  gone  overboard  but  for 
the  Captain  and  the  doctor  and  some  of  the 
sailors.  They  prevented  me,  and  when  I  landed, 
I  could  not  express  to  them  the  gratitude  I  felt. 


GOD    HAS    NOT    ORDERED   IT.  35 

I  had  very  little  English  money  with  me,  but 
all  of  that  I  distributed  to  the  men.'  " 

As  Mrs.  Kane  told  of  her  impulse  to  commit 
suicide  her  manner  became  tragic  and  she 
clutched  her  hstener's  arm.  After  a  moment, 
however,  she  reverted  quietly  enough  to  the 
original  subject. 

But  she  speedily  became  much  excited  again, 
as  what  follows  will  show.     It  was  but  natural  : 

'^  Since  you  now  despise  Spiritualism,  how  was  it 
that  you  were  engaged  in  it  so  long  ?''  I  asked. 

'' Another  sister  of  mine/'  and  she  coupled  the  name 
with  an  injurious  adjective,  "  made  me  take  up  with  it. 
She's  my  damnable  enemy.  I  liate  her.  ^ly  God  !  I'd 
poison  her  !  Xo,  I  wouldn't,  but  I'll  lash  her  with  my 
tongue.  She  was  twenty-three  years  old  the  day  I  was 
born.  I  was  an  aunt  seven  years  before  I  was  born. 
Ha  !  ha  ! 

*'  Yes,  I  am  going  to  expose  Spiritualism  from  its 
very  foundation,  I  have  had  the  idea  in  my  head  for 
many  a  year,  but  I  have  never  come  to  a  determination 
before,     I've  thought  of  it  day  and  night.     I  loath  the 


36  GOD    HAS    NOT    ORDERED    IT. 

thing  I  have  been.  As  I  used  to  say  to  those  who 
wanted  me  to  give  a  seance,  '  You  are  driving  me  into 
hell/  Then  the  next  day  I  would  drown  my  remorse  in 
wine.  I  was  too  honest  to  remain  a  '  medium.'  That's 
why  I  gave  up  my  exhibitions. 

''When  Spiritualism  first  began  Kate  and  I  were 
little  children,  and  this  old  woman,  my  other  sister, 
made  us  her  tools.  Mother  was  a  silly  woman.  She  was 
a  fanatic.  I  call  her  that  because  she  was  honest.  She 
believed  in  these  things.  Spiritualism  started  from  just 
nothing.  We  were  but  innocent  little  children.  What 
did  we  know  ?  Ah,  we  grew  to  know  too  much  !  Our 
sister  used  us  in  her  exhibitions  and  we  made  money  for 
her.  Now  she  turns  upon  us  because  she's  the  wife  of  a 
rich  man,  and  she  opposes-  us  both  wherever  she  can. 
Oh,  I  am  after  her  !  You  can  kill  sometimes  without 
using  weapons,  you  know. 

'*  Dr.  Kane  found  me  when  I  was  leading  this  life. 
[The  woman's  voice  trembled  just  here  and  she  nearly 
broke  down.]  I  was  only  thirteen  when  he  took  me  out 
of  it  and  placed  me  at  school.  I  was  educated  in  Phil- 
adelphia. When  I  was  sixteen  years  old  he  returned 
from  the  Arctic  and  we  were  L/iarried.  Now  comes  the 
sad,  sad  tale.  He  was  very  ill.  The  physicians  ordered 
him  to  London,  but  before  he  arrived  he  had  a  paralytic 
stroke  of  the  heart.     Then  he  was  sent  back  from  Lon- 


GOD  HAS  NOT  ORDERED  IT.  37 

don  and  to  Havaua.  Newsboys  shouted  in  the  streets  of 
New  York  the  news  of  his  critical  condition.  Oh,  my 
God  !  it  was  anguish  to  my  ears  !  Mother  and  I  were  to 
have  joined  him  in  two  weeks.  He  died  before  we 
arrived.  Then  I  had  brain  fever.  No  one  but  God  can 
know  what  sorrows  I  have  had  ! 

"  TV  hen  I  recovered  I  was  driven  again  into  Spiritual- 
ism, and  I  gave  exhibitions  with  my  sister  Katie.  I 
knew,  of  course,  then,  that  every  effect  produced  by  us 
was  absolute  fraud.  Why,  I  have  explored  the  unknown 
as  far  as  human  will  can.  1  have  gone  to  the  dead  so 
that  I  might  get  from  them  some  little  token.  Nothing 
ever  came  of  it — nothing,  nothing.  I  have  been  in 
graveyards  at  dead  of  night,  having  permission  to  enter 
from  those  in  charge.  I  have  sat  alone  on  a  gravestone, 
that  the  spirits  of  those  who  slept  underneath  might 
come  to  me.  I  have  tried  to  obtain  some  sign.  Not  a 
thing  !  No,  no,  the  dead  shall  not  return,  nor  shall 
any  that  go  down  into  hell.  So  says  the  Catholic  Bible, 
and  so  say  I.  The  spirits  will  not  come  back.  God  has 
not  ordered  it. 

'*  You  want  to  know  what  are  the  points  of  my  com- 
ing expose  ?    First  the  ^  rappings.' '' 

Mrs.  Kane  paused  here,  and  I  heard  first  a  rapping 
under  the  floor  near  my  feet,  then  under  the  chair  in 
which  I  was  seated,  and  again  under  a  table  on  which  I 


38  GOD   HAS   NOT   OEDERED   IT. 

was  leaning.  She  led  me  to  the  door  and  I  heard  the 
same  sound  on  the  other  side  of  it.  Then,  when  she  sat 
on  the  piano  stool,  the  legs  of  the  instrument  reverberated 
more  loudly,  and  the  tap,  tap,  resounded  throughout  its 
hollow  structure. 

''  It  is  all  a  trick  ?" 

*'  Absolutely.     Spirits,  is  he  not  easily  fooled  V* 

Rap,  rap,  rap  ! 

*'  I  can  always  get  an  affirmative  answer  to  that  ques- 
tion," she  remarked. 

Then  I  addressed  certain  suppositions  to  her.  At 
last  she  said,  ^'  Yes,  you  have  hit  it.  It  is,  as  you  say, 
the  manner  in  which  the  joints  of  the  foot  can  be  used 
without  lifting  it  from  the  floor.  The  power  of  doing 
this  can  only  be  acquired  by  practice  begun  in  early 
youth.  One  must  begin  as  early  as  twelve  years.  Thir- 
teen is  rather  late.  We  children,  when  we  were  playing 
together,  years  ago,  discovered  it,  and  it  was  my  eldest 
sister  who  first  put  the  discovery  to  such  an  infamous 
use. 

"  I  call  it  infamous,  for  it  was." 


THE  DISCOMFITED  ENEMY.  39 


CHAPTEE   n. 

THE  DISCOMFITED  ENEMY. 

What  has  gone  before  is  the  whole  story,  in  a 
sense. 

The  article  in  the  Herald  either  relates  or  sug- 
gests it.  Indeed,  no  refutation  of  it  has  been 
attempted.  If  there  is  one  striking  negative  feat- 
ure in  the  circumstances  surrounding  this  expos- 
ure of  Spiritualism,  it  is  the  entire  absense  of  any 
reply  from  the  great  body  of  professional  spirit- 
uahsts  commensurate  with  the  accusation  made. 

This  confession  of  Mrs.  Margaret  Fox  Kane 
was  to  them  the  handwriting  on  the  waU,  the 
^^  Mene,  mene,  tekel,  upharsin,^^  of  Spirituahsm. 

Leah  Fox  Fish-Brown-Underhill,  who  has 
pubhshed  a  book  of  the  flimsiest  and  most  absurd 
narrative,  intended  to  be  accepted  as  a  proof  of 


4:0  THE  DISCOMFITED   ENEMY. 

Spiritualism,  is  the  one  person  in  all  the  world 
who  could  be  expected  to  defend  the  system  from 
this  fatal  attack,  if  any  defense  were  possible. 
Reporters  of  the  daily  press  would  have  been 
but  too  glad  to  record  whatever  she  might  say, 
were  it  even  the  veriest  drivel,  on  an  issue  that 
jeopardized  the  existence  of  the  brazen  and  pre- 
tentious '^ism"  which,  as  by  an  obscene  spell, 
still  enlists  the  curiosity  of  a  great  proportion  of 
the  world. 

But  as  Mrs.  Underhill's  book  itself,  which  I 
shall  notice  more  in  detail  hereafter,  shows  to  the 
critical  mind  how  futile  would  be  an  attempted 
refutation  on  her  part,  the  public  can  very  readily 
understand  the  reason  of  this  most  careful  silence. 
Blunderingly,  however,  prior  to  having  consulted 
her,  Mr.  Daniel  Underbill,  her  husband,  consented 
to  talk  upon  the  subject.  The  statements  hostile 
to  Mrs.  Kane,  to  be  found  in  the  excerpt  here 
given,  were,  of  course,  to  be  expected.  Were 
they  ever  so  true,  however,  they  could  not  in  any 


THE  DISCOMFITED  ENEMY.  41 

way  lesson  the  damning  force  of  her  repentant 
avowals : — 

Mr.  Daniel  Underhill,  president  of  a  wealthy  insur- 
ance company,  whose  office  is  in  Wall  street,  and  who  is 
the  husband  of  the  eldest  of  the  Fox  sisters,  whom  Mar- 
garet declares  to  be  her  '^  damnable  enemy,"  is  a 
Spiritualist,  but  in  a  moderate  sense.  Mrs.  UnderhilFs 
maiden  name  was  Ann  Leah  Fox.  She  was  twice 
married  before  she  met  her  present  husband,  and  she  is 
twenty-three  years  older  than  Margaret. 

A  large  part  of  the  public  do  not  realize  that  Ann 
Leah,  Margaret  and  Cathie  Fox  were  the  founders  of 
what  is  specifically  known  as  Spiritualism.  The  first  so- 
called  phenomena  came  to  the  two  youngest  girls  in 
1848,  at  Hydesville,  in  this  State,  while  their  sister  Leah 
was  residing  elsewhere.  When  she  heard  of  what  had 
taken  place  and  of  the  intense  public  excitement  which 
it  had  created,  she  joined  them,  and  then  began  the 
public  history  of  Spiritualism.  She  took  the  incipient 
*'  ism  "  vigorously  in  hand,  and  for  a  series  of  years  gave 
exhibitions  in  all  the  principal  cities,  which  were  attended 
by  the  most  eminent  men  and  the  most  brilliant  women 
in  the  country. 

Of  late  years  Mrs.  Underhill  has  entirely  withdrawn 


42  THE  DISCOMFITED   ENEMY. 

from  public  participation  in  spiritualistic  exhibitions. 
She  is  still  held,  however,  in  high  estimation  by  all  who 
accept  supernatural  communications,  and  her  reply  to 
what  her  sister  Margaret  has  said  regarding  the  practice 
of  fraud,  would  at  this  time  be  interesting.  Unfortu- 
nately she  is  now  in  the  country,  and  there  is  no  person 
in  the  city  to  speak  for  her  excepting  her  husband.  I 
obtained  an  interview  with  him  yesterday.  He  was 
reluctant  to  be  brought  into  the  controversy,  but,  while 
speaking  in  a  most  uncomplimentary  manner  of  Margaret 
and  denouncing  her  proposed  new  departure,  did  not 
evince  any  great  amount  of  indignation. 

"I  have  for  years, ^'  he  began,  '^helped  both  Maggie 
and  Katie,  and  my  wife  has  done  everything  in  the  world 
for  them.  We  have  furnished  apartments  for  Maggie 
twice.  They  might  both  do  well  if  they  would  only 
keep  sober.  Maggie  can  be  as  nice  as  you  please  or  as 
vicious  as  a  devil.  Several  persons  have  undertaken  to 
manage  her,  but  all  have  failed.  Nobody  can  do  any- 
thing Avith  her.  The  first  I  knew  that  she  was  back  in 
the  city  was  through  the  Herald. 

^*  I  don't  think  she's  in  her  right  mind.  I  have  done 
so  much  for  her  and  she  has  behaved  so  badly  in  return 
that  I  have  given  her  up  now  and  will  have  nothing  to 
do  with  her.  She  says  she  will  lecture,  does  she  ?  Well, 
I  don't  believe  she  ever  will.     She's  incapable  of  it. 


THE  DISCOMFITED   ENEMY.  43 

*It's  a  great  pity,  though,  that  she  should  say  such 
things  about  Spiritualism,  because  of  the  odium  which 
will  result  from  it.  But  it  isn't  the  first  time  she  has 
said  that  she  would  declare  against  Spiritualism.  She 
has  had  such  spells  before.  It  is  astonishing  to  me  that 
people  have  stuck  to  her  and  Katie  as  they  have.  It  is 
all  bosh  about  revealing  the  manner  of  producing  the 
raps.  I  don't  believe  she  can  do  it.  I  don^t  believe  she 
knows  how  they  are  produced,  except  that  it  is  done  by 
an  occult  agency.  Of  course,  there  are  frauds  in  Spirit- 
ualism. Mme.  Diss  De  Barr  was  one  of  them.  I  don't 
believe  much  in  materialization,  but  Fve  seen  some  real 
manifestations.  They  were  in  my  own  house.  Nearly  all 
my  spiritualistic  experience  has  been  in  my  own  house, 
and  these  sisters  were  the  mediums. 

''Of  course  Maggie's  statement  will  be  something  of 
a  shock  to  spiritualists  the  world  over,  because  they 
regard  her  and  her  sisters  as  the  founders  of  their  belief. 
In  my  opinion  she  is  not  accountable  for  what  she  says." 

Mrs.  Underbill  remained  quietly  in  the^coun- 
try  many  weeks  after  the  expose,  safe  from  the 
keen  inquisition  of  reporters. 

The  notorious  ''mediums"  in  New  York  who 
were  approached  on  the  subject,  were  all  exces- 


44  THB  DISCOMFITED   ENEMY. 

sively  guarded  in  their  comments  upon  the  step 
taken  by  Mrs.  Kane,  yet  they  admitted  her  per- 
sonal importance  as  an  originator  of  Spiritualism. 
Mrs.  E.  A.  Wells,  whose  fraudulent  exhibitions 
have  had  a  certain  success,  expressed  herself  as 
much  shocked  at  the  determination  of  Mrs.  Kane ; 
**  *but,'  she  added  to  the  reporter,  with  seem- 
ing naivete,  ^  you  don't  beheve  she  will  do  it,  do 
you  V  " 

The  account  from  which  I  am  quoting,  con- 
tinues as  follows : 

"  I  sought  the  presence  of  Mrs.  E.  A.  Wells,  a  medium 
of  great  celebrity,  whose  abode  is  not  far  from  Adelphi 
Hall,  where  spiritualists  congregate  on  Sunday.  Mrs. 
Wells  expressed  herself  as  shocked  at  the  determination 
of  Mrs.  Margaret  Fox  Kane,  ''  but,"  she  added,  with 
seeming  naivete, ''  you  don't  believe  she  will  do  it,  do 
you  r 

*'  How  have  you  regarded  Mrs.  Kane  heretofore, 
Mrs.  Wells  r 

"Why,  with  a  good  deal  of  respect  as  one  of  the  first 
to  get  messages  from  the  unseen  world.  The  Fox  sisters 
have  a  great  name.     I  have  no  idea,  though,  if  she  really 


THE  DISCOMFITED   ENEMY.  45 

intends  to  do  what  she  says  she  will,  that  she's  in  her 
right  senses." 

Another  '^medium,"  who  has  a  wealthy 
clientele,  and  who  gives  only  private  seances, 
whence  all  unfriendly  influences  are  rigorously 
excluded,  did  not  desire  to  appear  in  print,  as  she 
told  her  visitor,  since  it  would  look  like  ^'bad 
form  "  to  those  who  came  to  her  for  supernatural 
enlightenment. 

,  She  was  asked,  however,  if  she  held  the  Fox  sisters  in 
much  esteem  as  the  pioneers  of  Spiritualism.  She  said 
she  did,  but  personally  knew  nothing  of  them. 

When  told  about  the  threatened  exposure  she  ex- 
pressed yery  great  surprise,  and  declared  that  it  would 
be  a  deep  mortification  to  believers  in  Spiritualism. 

"  I  don't  believe  she  can  expose  any  fraud.  But  if 
fraud  exists,  why,  then,  I  say  let  it  be  exposed;  the 
sooner  the  better.  There's  no  fraud  about  me,  that's 
very  certain,  and  I've  some  of  the  very  best  people  in 
New  York  to  come  here." 

*'  I'll  tell  you  what !  I  have  heard  that  the  Fox  sis- 
ters are  dreadfully  addicted  to  drink.  I  don't  know  how 
far  it  is  true,  but  I  wouldn't  believe  anything  she  might 


46  THE   DISCOMFITED    ENEMY. 

say  in  the  way  of  exposure.  May  be  she's  out  of  money 
and  thinks  the  spiritualists  ought  to  do  something  for 
her.     I  shouldn't  wonder." 

^'  JSTow,  if  you'll  come  up  here  some  time,  and  if  you'll 
give  me  a  fair  report,  I  shall  be  glad  to  show  you  how  I 
can  materialize/' 

I  thought  there  was  a  good  deal  of  material  about  her 
already,  and  so  I  thanked  her. 

At  their  public  gatherings  in  Adelphi  Hall, 
New  York,  now  most  meagerly  attended,  the 
spiritualists,  just  after  the  initial  expose  in  the 
Herald,  refrained  very  wisely  from  taking  up  the 
gauntlet  of  truth  thrown  down  by  their  chief 
apostle,  Mrs.  Margaret  Fox  Kane.  In  an  inter- 
view, however,  which  was  had  by  a  reporter  with 
Mr.  Henry  J.  Newton,  the  President  of  the  First 
Spiritual  Society  of  New  York,  the  latter 
indulged  in  a  number  of  emphatic  statements 
regarding  the  ^'  manifestations  "  produced  by  the 
^'  Fox  Sisters,"  all  of  which  rested  upon  his  own 
veracity  only.  The  spirit  of  what  he  said  may  be 
easily  gleaned  from  this  passage  : 


THE    DISCOMFITED    ENEMY.  47 

"I  had  supposed  all  along/' he  said,  ^^that  Mrs.  Kane 
was  still  in  Europe,  and  that  she  would  never  leturn  to 
this  country.  I  even  heard  at  the  time  when  Katie,  her 
sister,  was  sent  abroad,  that  Maggie  was  in  Rome,  in 
company  with  a  well  known  gentleman.  I  am  very 
much  surprised  to  know  that  she  is  in  this  city,  and 
more  surprised  that  she  threatens  to  make  such  silly 
pretended  revelations  as  you  say  she  proposes.  They  can 
only  be  revelations  in  name.  She  cannot  reveal  any- 
thing that  can  injure  the  spiritualist  cause  or  that  will 
weaken  in  any  one's  mind  the  truth  of  what  we  teach. 

*'  I  have  been  absent  in  the  country  and  have  not  read 
all  that  the  Herald  has  published  on  this  matter.  I  have 
read  enough,  however,  to  show  me  how  utterly  absurd 
and  ridiculous  her  position  is. 

*'  The  idea  of  claiming  that  unseen  '  rappings '  can  be 
produced  with  joints  of  the  feet  !  If  she  says  this,  even 
with  regard  to  her  own  manifestations,  she  lies  !  I  and 
many  other  men  of  truth  and  position  have  witnessed  the 
manifestations  of  herself  and  her  sisters  many  times 
under  circumstances  in  which  it  was  absolutely  impossible 
for  there  to  liave  been  the  least  fraud. 

^^  Nothing  that  she  could  say  in  that  regard  would  in 
the  least  change  my  opinion,  nor  would  it  that  of  any  one 
else  who  has  become  profoundly  convinced  that  there  is 
m.  occult  influence  connecting  us  with  an  invisible  world, 


4:8  THE   DISCOMFITED   ENEMY. 

I  have  seen  Margaret  Fox  Kane  herself,  when  lying  on  a 
bed  of  sickness  and  unable  to  rise,  produce  '  rappingsMn 
various  parts  of  the  room  in  which  she  was,  and  upon  the 
ceilings,  doors  and  windows  several  feet  away  from  her. 
I  have  seen  her  produce  the  same  effects  when  too  drunk 
to  realize  what  she  was  doing. '^ 

On  the  25th  of  September,  1888,  the  following, 
which  was  pubhshed  in  the  New  York  Herald, 
expressed  very  tersely  the  situation  among  the 
spiritualists,  who  had  by  that  time  partly 
recovered  from  the  first  effect  of  the  blow : 

Eecrimination  against  the  two  younger  Fox  sisters, 
Margaret  and  Katie,  has  begun  with  characteristic 
violence,  and  many  unlovely  truths  are  betrayed  which 
do  not  alter  the  essential  significance  of  the  former's 
denunciation  of  spiritualistic  fraud.  Several  of  the 
mediums  said  that  they  could  hardly  believe  their  eyes 
when  they  read  of  Mrs.  Margaret  Fox  Kane's  deter- 
mination, and  they  declared  almost  unanimously  that 
^'  she  would  not  do  it  if  she  were  in  her  senses."  They 
accuse  her  of  excessive  indulgence  in  drink  and  hint  that 
she  is  not  responsible  for  what  she  says.  It  appears, 
however,  that  in  private,  on  many  occasions,  but  never 


THE   DISCOMFITED    ENEMY.  49 

before  in  public,  she  has  stated  that  Sjii  ritual  ism  was  a 
tissue  of  fraud,  and  that  some  day  she  would  prove  the 
charge  to  the  world.  She  has  during  the  last  few  months 
given  many  seances  in  London,  but  always  disclaimed 
any  personal  supernatural  connection  in  producing  the 
effects  at  w^hich  others  wondered.  With  a  number  of 
rich  patrons,  among  them  Mr.  H.  Wedgewood,  of  Caven- 
dish Square,  she  proceeded  to  a  certain  point  in  the 
process  of  delusion  and  then  frankly  undeceived  them, 
coiivincing  them  of  the  ease  with  which  they  could  be 
practiced  upon. 

Prior  to  this,  the  following  had  been  pub- 
lished : 

As  Mrs.  Kane's  sincerity  in  making  her  proposed 
exposures  is  questioned  by  her  enemies,  the  following 
brief  note  from  a  well  know^n  English  spiritualist  is  of 
interest : 


**  31  QuEEi?-  Anke  Street,  Cavendish  Square,  ) 
"LojfDOX,  W.,  July  19,  1888.     ) 

"  Dear  Mrs.  Kane  :  I  am  not  so  much  surprised 

as  I  might  be  at  what  you  have  revealed  to  me  if  I  had 

not  already  been  led  to  believe  that  many  spiritualistic 

mediums  practice  upon  the  credulous. 


60  THE   DISCOMFITED    ENEMY. 

^^The  illusion,  however,  was  perfect  while  it  lasted. 
"'  You  do  well  to  expose  these  infamous  frauds,  and  I 
thank  you  for  having  enlightened  me. 
**  Sincerely  yours, 

"H.  WEDaEWOOD/' 

And  later  Mrs.  Kane,  in  outlining  her  pro- 
posed public  lecture,  said  : 

^'  I  am  going  to  expose  the  very  root  of  corruption  in 
this  spiritualistic  ulcer.  You  talk  about  Mormonism  ! 
Do  you  know  that  there  is  something  behind  the  shadowy 
mask  of  Spiritualism  that  the  public  can  hardly  guess 
at  ?  I  am  stating  now  what  I  know,  not  because  I 
actually  participated  in  it,  for  I  would  never  be  a  party 
to  such  promiscuous  Hastiness,  but  because  I  had  plenty 
of  opportunity,  as  you  may  imagine,  of  verifying  it. 
Under  the  name  of  this  dreadful,  this  horrible  hypocrisy 
— Spiritualism — everything  that  is  improper,  bad  and 
immoral  is  practiced.  They  go  even  so  far  as  to  have 
what  they  call  '  spiritual  children  V  They  pretend  to 
something  like  the  immaculate  conception  I  Could  any- 
thing be  more  blasphemous,  more  disgusting,  more  thinly 
deeeptive  than  that  ?    In  London  I  went -in  disguise  to 


THE   DISCOMFITED   ENEMY.  51 

a  quiet  seance  at  the  house  of  a  wealthy  man,  and  I  saw 
a  so-called  materialization.  The  effect  was  produced 
with  the  aid  of  luminous  paper,  the  lustre  of  which  was 
reflected  upon  the  operator.  The  figure  thus  displayed 
was  that  of  a  woman — was  virtually  nude,  being  envel- 
oped in  transparent  gauze,  the  face  alone  being  concealed. 
This  was  one  of  those  seances  to  which  the  privileged 
non-believing  friends  of  believing  spiritualists  could  have 
access.  But  there  are  other  seances,  where  none  but  the 
most  tried  and  trusted  are  admitted,  and  w^here  there 
are  shameless  goings  on  that  vie  with  the  secret  Saturn- 
alia of  the  Romans.  I  could  not  describe  these  things  to 
you,  because  I  would  not.^^ 

Thus,  the  only  one  of  the  *'  Fox  Sisters  "  who 
still  adhered  to  the  imposture  practiced  for  over 
forty  years,  and  the  only  spiritualist  who  could 
deny  the  statements  of  Margaret  Fox  Kane  with 
anything  approaching  to  authority,  found  her 
safest  and  most  fitting  defense  in  the  kindly  shel- 
ter of  silence. 

This  quasi-confession  was  not  needed  to  com- 
plete the  conviction  in  intelligent    minds    that 


52  THE   DISCOMFITED    ENEMY. 

Spiritualism  was,  in  its  inception,  and  is  now,  a 
fraud  and  a  lie.  But  the  significance  of  the  nega- 
tive circumstance  is  none  the  less  worthy  of 
note. 


▲  SECOND  BLOW.  53 


CHAPTER  in. 

A  SECOND  BLOW. 

Barely  had  the  professional  spirituahsts  a 
breathing-spell— after  the  shock  of  Mrs.  Kane's 
confession — when  a  new  blow  fell  upon  them. 

Mrs.  Catherine  Fox  Jencken  arrived  from 
Europe,  and  though  ignorant  until  landing,  of 
the  grave  step  her  sister  Margaret  had  taken,  at 
once  announced  her  intention  of  joining  and  sus- 
taining her  in  the  complete  exposure  of  Spiritual- 
ism in  all  its  phases  of  deception  and  hypocrisy. 

This  news  staggered  the  spiritualistic  world. 

And  now  it  but  remains  for  the  other  of  the 
three  "Fox  Sisters"  to  see  the  hopeless  folly  of 
continued  imposture,  and  to  add  her  confession 
to  the  historical  record  of  the  dissipation  of  this 
unholy  fraud.     That  she  will  ever  do  this,  how- 


64:  '   A  SECOND  BLOW. 

ever,  those  who  are  aware  that  to  her  malevolent 
will  was  due  the  first  evil  growth  and  the  wide 
extension  of  Spiritualism,  cannot  easily  bring 
themselves  to  believe. 

The  following  account  of  Mrs.  Jencken's 
arrival  in  New  York  and  of  her  determination  to 
add  her  testimony  to  that  of  her  sister  Margaret 
against  the  fraud  of  Spiritualism,  was  pubhshed 
on  the  10th  of  October,  1888,  and  is  of  sufficient 
interest  to  excuse  my  quoting  it  here  at  large  ; 

AND  KATY  FOX  NOW. 


The  Youngest  of  the  Mediumistic  Pio- 
neers Will   "  Give  the  Snap  Away." 


SHE  AERIVES  FEOM  EUEOPE. 


Spiritualisnn  a  Humbugfrom  Beginning 
to  End — Alleged  Immoralities. 

Katie  Fox  Jencken  arrived  yesterday  from  England 
on  the    Persian  Monarch  and  she  intends  to  co-operate 


A  SECOND  BLOW.  65 

with  her  sister — Margaret  Fox  Kane — in  her  proposed 
expos6  of  the  fraudulent  methods  of  so-called  Spiritual- 
ism. 

Mrs.  Jencken's  coming  was  unexpected  to  her  sister, 
and  it  will  surprise  the  enemies  of  both. 

The  blow  to  Spiritualism  which  Maggie  Fox  struck 
not  long  ago,  caused  a  good  deal  more  of  consternation 
than  spiritualists  generally  have  cared  to  confess.  There 
is  ample  reason  for  stating  that  underneath  a  plausible 
surface  of  enforced  calm  there  have  been  the  hurried 
exchange  of  forbodings  and  doubtings,  and  many  con- 
sultations and  goings  to  and  fro.  It  is  known  that  an 
overture  was  made  to  Maggie  Fox  suggestive  of  a  money 
consideration  for  her  silence,  and  that  she  rejected  it 
with  much  indignation. 

Mrs.  Jencken  walked  into  the  parlor  where  Mrs.  Kane 
was  sitting  about  five  o'clock  yesterday,  and  the  sisters  at 
once  fell  on  each  other's  necks,  in  an  ecstasy  of  affection 
and  delight  at  being  together  once  again.  Mrs.  Kane 
had  but  just  been  talking  to  me  about  her  projected  lec- 
ture on  ''  The  Curse  of  Spiritualism,''  and  Mrs.  Jencken, 
who  had  heard  nothing  of  tlie  proposed  expose,  except 
as  it  was  casually  rumored  in  her  ear  at  the  steamship 
dock,  promptly  gave  her  acquiescence  to  it  as  soon  as  she 
understood  the  situation. 

''I  do  not   care   a  fig  for  Spiritualism,"  she  said. 


56  A  SECOND  BLOW. 

''excei^t  so  far  as  the  good  will  of  its  adherents  may 
affect  the  future  of  my  boys.  They  are  all  I  have  in  this 
life^  and  I  live  or  die  for  them/' 

Mrs.  Jencken  looks  a  far  different  person  than  she 
was  when  in  deep  trouble  in  this  city  and  when  she  had 
to  do  with  the  rather  unsympathetic  measures  of  the 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children.  No 
matron  could  bear  a  more  i3lacid  and  comely  expression, 
and  she  declares  with  heartfelt  earnestness  that  she  is 
done  forever  with  her  once-besetting  vice. 

"Mrs.  Jencken,  are  you  willing  to  join  with  your 
sister  in  exposing  the  true  modus  operandi  of  Spiritual- 
ism ?"  I  asked. 

"I  care  nothing  for  Spiritualism/^  was  her  reply. 
"  So  far  as  I  am  concerned  I  am  done  with  it.  I  will 
say  this,  I  regard  it  as  one  of  the  very  greatest  curses 
that  the  world  has  ever  known.  If  I  knew  those  power- 
ful spiritualists  who  have  done  their  utmost  to  harm  me 
in  the  past  could  not  do  so  in  the  future,  I  would  not 
hesitate  a  moment  to  expose  it.  The  worst  of  them  all 
is  my  eldest  sister,  Leah,  the  wife  of  Daniel  Underhill. 
I  think  she  was  the  one  who  caused  my  arrest  last  spring, 
and  the  bringing  of  the  preposteroiis  charge  against  me 
that  I  was  cruel  to  my  children  and  neglectful  of  them. 
I  don't  know  why  it  is,  she  has  always  been  jealous  of 


A   SECOND   BLOW.  67 

Maggie  and  me  ;  I  suppose  because  we  could  do  things 
in  Spiritualism  that  she  couldn^t."'' 

^'Why  don't  you  come  squarely  out,  then,  with  the 
truth,  and  make  the  public  your  friends  ?  You  needn't 
fear  any  persecution  if  you  do  that." 

"  Well,  if  my  sister's  health  were  only  fully  restored 
and  I  knew  she  was  fully  herself  I  would  certainly  join 
her  in  showing  Spiritualism  to  be  what  it  really  is.  I 
want  to  be  sure  of  that,  however.  I  want  the  thing  done 
properly  when  it  is  done." 

"  Then  you  will  not  deny  that  what  she  has  said  of 
Spiritualism  is  true  ?" 

''I  will  not  deny  it.  Spiritualism  is  a  humbug  from 
beginning  to  end.  It  is  the  greatest  humbug  of  the 
century.  I  don't  know  whether  she  has  told  you  this, 
but  Maggie  and  I  started  it  as  very  little  children,  too 
young,  too  innocent,  to  know  what  we  were  doing.  Our 
sister  Leah  was  twenty-three  years  older  than  either  of 
us.  We  got  started  in  the  way  of  deception,  aud  being 
encouraged  in  it,  we  vrent  on,  of  course.  Others,  old 
enough  to  have  been  ashamed  of  the  infamy,  took  us  out 
into  the  world.  My  sister  Leah  has  published  a  book 
called  *  The  Missing  Link  of  Spiritualism/  It  professes 
to  give  the  true  history  of  this  movement,  so  far  as 
it  originated  with  us.  Now,  there's  nothing  but  false- 
hood in  that  book  from  beginning  to  end,  excepting  the 


58  THE  8E00ND  BLOW. 

fact  that  Horace  Greeley  educated  me.  The  rest  is  noth- 
ing but  a  string  of  lies." 

"  And  about  the  manifestations  at  Hydesville  in  1848 
and  the  finding  of  bones  in  the  cellar  and  so  on  ?" 

^' All  humbuggery,  every  bit  of  it." 

"  And  yet  Maggie  and  I  are  the  founders  of  Spiritual- 
ism !"  concluded  Mrs.  Jencken. 

On  the  next  day  Mrs.  Jencken  made  the  state- 
ment which  appears  in  the  following : 

Mrs.  Jencken  was  asked  about  the  alleged  spirit 
manifestations  which  hare  taken  place  in  Carlyle's  old 
home  at  Chelsea,  London,  where  she  has  lately  resided. 
The  English  papers  have  been  filled  with  stories,  more 
or  less  sceptical,  regarding  these  queer  occurrences.  Mrs. 
Jencken  said :  "  All  that  took  place  there  of  that 
nature  is  utterly  false.  I  haven't  the  slightest  idea  that 
the  noises  which  we  heard  in  the  house  had  any  connec- 
tion with  Carlyle's  spirit.  I  certainly  know  that  every 
so-called  manifestation  produced  through  me  in  London 
or  anywhere  else  was  a  fraud.  Many  a  time  have  I  wept 
because  when  I  was  young  and  innocent  I  was  brought 
into  such  a  life.  The  time  has  now  come  for  Maggie 
and  1  to  set  ourselves  right  before  the  world.     Nobody 


THE   SECOND  BLOW.  59 

knows  at  what  moment  either  of  us  might  be  taken  away. 
We  ought  not  to  leave  this  base  fabric  of  deceit  behind 
ns  unexposed." 

As  may  be  seen,  nothing  could  be  stronger 
than  the  language  employed  in  these  inter- 
views by  both  of  the  repentant  sisters,  in 
denouncing  their  former  adhesion  to  a  system  of 
humbug  and  hypocrisy. 


60  THE  HAND    OF  THE  PEESEOUTOB. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  HAND  OF  THE  PERSECUTOR 

The  public  had  every  reason  to  feel  a  deep 
sympathy  with  the  two  younger  Fox  sisters  in 
the  courageous  attitude  which  they  had  taken. 

The  deadliest  hatred  is  always  to  be  feared,  by 
those  who  abandon  a  faith  or  a  system,  from 
those  who  still  adhere  to  it. 

Think  you,  if  Mahomet  had  turned  about, 
forty  years  after  the  Hegira,  and  had  boldly 
anathematized  the  rehgion  he  had  established,  he 
might  not  have  been  reviled  and  persecuted,  even 
by  those  in  whom  he  had  first  inculcated  his 
bastard  faith? 

Who  can  doubt  this  who  knows  human 
nature  ? 

Even  the  lies  of  an  impostor  rebel   against 


THE    HAND    OF   THE   PERSECUTOR.  61 

him,  when,  with  a  repentant  word,  he  would 
damn  them  again  to  all  eternity. 

Mrs.  Jencken  had  ample  reason  to  fear  that 
the  disclosures  which  had  been  made  by  her  and 
her  sister  would  redouble  the  hostile  zeal  of  those 
who  before  had  persecuted  her.  In  the  first 
account  which  had  been  published  of  her  return 
to  this  country,  it  was  not  stated  that  her  twi) 
boys  had  accompanied  her.  In  fact,  however, 
they  had. 

The  pressure  brought  to  bear  to  induce  her  to 
retract  her  denunciation  of  SpirituaHsm,  and  the 
ground  of  her  fear  for  the  safety  of  her  children, 
are  well  set  forth  in  the  following,  which  appeared 
on  October  11th,  1888  : 


62  THE    HAND    OF   THE   PERSECUTOB. 


FEARING   THEIR   ENEMIES. 


THE  JENCKElir  BOYS  WERE  HERE,  BUT  ARE  SEJS^T  AWAY, 

There  are  signs  of  gathering  thunder  all  around  the 
spirtualistic  sky. 

A  leading  spiritualist,  a  lawyer,  who  had  read  the 
Herald's  recent  articles  on  the  subject,  demanded  of 
Mrs.  Katy  Fox  Jencken,  immediately  upon  her  arrival  in 
New  York  on  Tuesday,  that  she  refuse  to  support  her 
sister  Maggie  in  her  expose  of  mediumistic  fraud,  and, 
to  use  his  own  words,  that  she  ^'  throw  herself  upon  the 
sympathy  of  the  spiritualists. '' 

This  proposition  she  emphatically  rejected  and 
declared  that  she  had  done  forever  with  Spiritualism  and 
spiritualists.  She  firmly  believes  that  leading  men  and 
women  among  the  latter,  particularly  her  eldest  sister 
Leah,  are  her  secret  persecutors,  and  that  it  was  due  to 
their  animus  that  she  was  arrested  last  spring  and 
deprived  of  her  two  boys,  to  whom  she  is  immeasurably 
devoted. 

There  is  much  to  sustain  this  charge,  and  the  infer- 
ence that  this  mysterious  persecution,  of  which,  as  she 
alleges,  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to 
Children   was    only  the   intrument,    was   inspired   by 


THE    HAND    OF   THE    PERSECUTOR.  63 

the  fear  that  she  and  Mrs.  Kane,  having  long  been 
exploited  for  the  financial  benefit  of  others,  might  do 
the  yery  thing  they  are  doing  now — betray  the  secrets  of 
deception,  wliicli  have  from  the  beginning  of  the 
spiritualistic  movement  been  so  vrell  guarded. 

As  was  said  in  the  Herald  yesterday,  Mrs.  Jencken 
knew  nothing  of  the  course  which  her  sister  Maggie  had 
taken  until  she  landed  on  the  wharf  of  the  Monarch  line 
company.  The  Herald  did  not  state  yesterday  that  Mrs. 
Jencken  was  accompanied  by  her  two  boys,  whom  the 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children  made 
such  great  efforts  to  keep  apart  from  their  mother  in 
last  May.  As  soon  as  she  heard  the  news  of  Maggie's 
disclosures  from  a  friend  who  met  her  at  the  steamer,  she 
was  overcome  with  fear  lest,  being  now  aware  of  the 
means  that  had  been  employed  to  secure  their  release  and 
her  own,  the  society  would  again  attempt  to  deprive  her 
of  her  children.  She  was  advised  by  a  lawyer  who  knew 
the  real  source  of  the  hostility  to  her  and  the  motives 
that  prompted  it,  to  send  them  back  at  once  to  England. 
The  boys  declared  that  they  did  not  want  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to 
Children  again.  Both  of  them  are  now  strapping  big 
fellows  for  their  age,  and  are  able  and  willing  to  earn  their 
own  living.  One  is  fourteen  years  old  and  the  other  will 
be  soon  sixteen.     But  for  a  misunderstanding  as  to  their 


64  THE    HAND    OF   THE    PERSECUTOR. 

ages  on  the  part  of  the  police  justice  last  spriug  there 
would  ncYer  have  been  any  question  of  retaining  them  in 
the  custody  of  Mr.  Gerry^s  over-zealous  myrmidons. 

Mrs.  Jencken^s  apprehensions,  however,  w^ere  not  to 
be  quieted,  and  early  in  the  morning  she  bundled  off  the 
two  lads  [and  they  are  now  safely  beyond  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  dreaded  society  of  which  Mr.  E.  T.  Gerry  is  the 
chief].* 

*'This  shows,"  said  a  gentleman  yesterday,  "  how  far 
certain  wealthy  spiritualists  are  powerful  to  inspire  a 
kind  of  terrorism  even  in  New  York  city  among  those 
who  have  left  their  ranks." 

''Now  that  my  boys  are  out  of  danger,"  said  Mrs. 
Jencken,  ''  I  will  stand  by  my  sister  Maggie  and  go  to 
the  very  fullest  length  of  any  exposure  that  she  may 
make.  We  have  been  the  tools  and  victims  of  others 
long  enough.  I  approve  and  I  aflBrm  all  that  she  has 
said  about  the  immoral  practices  hidden  under  the 
ridiculous  cloak  of  Spiritualism.  The  whole  thing  is 
damnable,  and  it  should  long  ago  have  been  trampled 
out  as  one  would  trample  out  the  life  of  a  serpent." 

*  It  was  erroneously  stated  that  the  boys  were  immediately 
Bent  back  to  Europe. 


SOLEMN   ABJURATION.  65 


CHAPTER  V. 

SOLEMN  AEJURATION. 

The  news  that  Mrs.  Margaret  Fox  Kane  and 
Mrs.  Catherine  Fox  Jencken  had  renounced  and 
exposed  Spirituahsm,  flew  from  one  end  of  the 
country  to  the  other,  and  caused  excitement 
among  spirituahsts  and  non-spirituahsts.  Every 
newspaper  in  every  city  of  the  Unifced  States,  and 
many  in  Europe,  repeated  the  story  pubhshed  in 
New  York. 

The  general  opinion  everywhere,  where  the 
wish  was  not  the  opposite,  was  that  Spirituahsm 
as  such  had  received  its  death-blow. 

Letters  began  to  pour  in  upon  Mrs.  Kane 
which  were  strongly  significant  of  the  effect  of 
her  action.  Many  of  them  were  written  by  per- 
sons who  had  been  behevers  from  the  very  first 


^^  SOLEMN    ABJURATION. 

of  the  public  exhibitions  of  the  'Wrappings/' and 
who  had  based  their  whole  faith  on  the  truth  and 
veritable  inspiration  of  t h  e  ^'  Fox  Sisters. ' '  It  was 
almost  pitiable  to  witness  the  honest-hearted  dis- 
tress of  people  of  this  sort,  who  now  saw  the 
fondest  illusion  of  their  hves  dissolve  before  their 
eyes  ;  their  dearest,  assured  hope  of  an  invisible 
world  ruthlessly  torn  from  them. 

The  anger  of  those  who  now  anathematized 
the  founders  of  the  spirituaHstic  faith,  and 
declared  that  all  that  they  could  now  say  in  way 
of  recantation  was  utterly  false,  while  all  that 
they  had  formerly  said  or  performed  as  miraculous 
proof,  was,  of  course,  as  true  as  gospel,  or  as  the 
fact  that  the  sun  shines,  was  quite  as  ridiculous  as 
the  other  sentiment  was  worthy  of  sympathy. 

It  was  natural  that  those  who  had  fed  their 
baser  passions  upon  Spiritualism — as  the  harpy 
upon  carrion — should  resort  to  the  vilest  methods 
of  attacking  Mrs.  Kane,  and  in  doing  so  should 
shelter  themselves  behind  the  cowardly  refuge  of 
anonymity. 


SOLEMN    ABJURATION.  67 

A  single  communication  from  one  of  those 
who  thus  set  the  gauge  for  our  estimate  of  spirit- 
uahstic  hypocrisy,  will  suffice  to  complete  the 
reader's  impression  regarding  them.  It  was 
written  on  a  postal  card  and  unsigned,  and  the 
italics  and  other  literary  peculiarities  are  wholly 
those  of  the  person  who  wrote  it: 

"•  Mrs.  Kane.  Your  anticipated  action  Thursday 
night  reminds  me  very  forcibly  of  several  lines  of 
'  Beautiful  snow '  only  your  Course  is  even  more 
despicable  and  your  rank  in  the  history  of  the 
present  day  will  be  on  a  par  with  Benedict  arnold 
In  '  Beautiful  Snow '  we  find  ^  Selling  her  soul  to 
whoever  would  buy '  &c.  you  are  going  to  seU 
your  soul  to  an  ignorant  pubhc  by  pretending  to 
Expose  what  you  very  well  Knoiv  cannot  be 
Exposed  by  any  man,  woman  or  child  dwelling 
in  the  Mortal  sphere  of  Life— shame  on  you. 
but  you  will  soon  meet  your  reward  in  other 
spheres  and  suffer  for  your  wickedness." 

It  is  hard  to  determine  whether  the  above 
communication   emanated    from   a   professional 


68  SOLEMN    ABJURATION. 

spiritualist  of  the  mercenary  type  or  from  one 
who  finds  his  or  her  profit  of  self -gratification  in  the 
licentious  tendencies  and  opportunities  of  private 
spiritualistic  intercourse.  In  any  event,  it  bears 
the  stamp  of  ignorant  selfishness  and  narrow 
vulgarity. 

It  is  with  a  degree  of  pleasure  that  one 
may  turn  to  letters  which  were  written  by  the 
sincere  disciples  of  the  ^'Fox  Sisters,"  and  which 
breathe  a  deep  anxiety  for  the  fate  of  that  fan- 
tastic creed  in  which  they  have  so  much  delighted. 

The  reader  has  but  to  think  for  an  instant  of 
the  actual  meaning  of  this  long-deferred  expose 
to  these  persons.  They  had  greedily  fed  their 
souls  upon  the  delusion  that  they  had  held  inter- 
course with  the  spirits  of  their  dear  departed. 
The  supposed  messages  which  they  had  received 
seemed  a  sure  earnest  of  that  union  with  those 
they  loved  on  earth  for  which  the  true  heart  most 
longs.  In  view  of  this  expectation  and  in  the 
light  of  this  exposure  of  its  utter  fallacy — so  far  as 
any  material  evidence  is  concerned — it  is  most 


SOLEMN   ASJUfiATlON.  69 

difficult  to  find  adequate  terms  with  which  to 
characterize  the  work  of  those  who  still  persist  in 
contributing  to  a  delusion  which  has  numbered 
so  many  victims. 

Here  is  a  letter  from  a  resident  of  Southern 
California,  enclosing  a  clipping  from  a  newspaper 
containing  Mrs.  Kane's  renunciation  of  Spirit- 
ualism: 

"BuENA  Park,  Los  Angeles  Co.,  Cal., 
*  Sept.  29,  A.  D.  1888. 

"  Mrs.  Margaret  Fox  Kane, 
''  Dear  Madam  : 
*^I  have  just  read  the  enclosed  item,  taken 
from  one  of  our  Los  Angeles  city  papers.     Please 
let  me  know  if  the  statements  therein  contained 
are  true,  and  you  will  greatly  obhge, 

*'  Yours  for  truth, 

^'T.  J.  House." 

The  following  was  written  by  one  of  the  best 
known  early  settlers  of  San  Francisco,  a  man 


TO  SOLEMN  ABJURATION. 

whose  example  and  absolute  faith  have  influenced 
hundreds,  probably,  to  embrace  Spiritualism  : 

'^San  Francisco,  Cal.,  Oct.  2,  1888. 
*^Mrs.  Margaret  Fox  Kane, 
'^Dear  Madam  : 
*^I  inclose  a  cutting  from  one  of  our  local 
papers,  purporting  to  be  an  interview  with  you  in 
regard  to  the  subject  of  Spiritualism.     I  have 
taken  the  liberty  to  inquire  of  you  if  the  state- 
ments therein  contained  are  true. 

*'I  have  been  a  believer  in  the  phenomena 
from  its  first  inception  through  you  and  your 
sister,  believing  it  to  be  true  since  that  time. 

'^  I  am  now  eighty-one  years  old  and  have  but 
a  short  time,  of  course,  to  remain  in  this  world, 
and  I  feel  great  anxiety  to  know  through  you  if 
I  have  been  deceived  all  this  time  in  a  matter  of 
vital  interest  to  us  all. 

'^  Will  you  greatly  oblige  me  with  an  answer  ? 
^'  Very  respectfully  yours, 

^'E.  F.  Bunnell. 
*'No.  319  Kearny  St." 


SOLEMN   ABJURATION.  71 

And  here  is  a  communication  which  is  signed 
by  what  is  evidently  only  a  part  of  the  writer's 
name,  but  which  carries  with  it  in  every  hue  the 
absolute  impress  of  truth  and  of  a  deep  and 
pathetic  earnestness  : 

''  Boston,  Mass.,  Oct.  15,  1888. 
'*  Mrs.  Margaret  Fox  Kane, 

^^DeaR  i\lADA3I  : 

^'Hundreds  of  thousands  have  behoved 
through  you  and  you  alone.  Hundreds  of  thous- 
ands eagerly  ask  you  whether  all  the  glorious 
hght  that  they  fancied  you  have  given  them,  was 
but  the  false  flicker  of  a  common  dip-candle  of 
fraud. 

^^If,  as  you  say,  you  were  forced  to  pursue 
this  imposture  from  childhood,  I  can  forgive  you, 
and  I  am  sure  that  God  T^ill  ;  for  he  tm^ns  not 
back  the  tiiily  repentant.  I  wiU  not  upbraid  you. 
I  am  sure  you  have  suffered  as  much  as  any 
penalty,  human  or  divine,  could  cause  you  to 
suffer.     The  disclosures  that  you  make  take  from 


72  SOLEMN  ABJURATION. 

me  all  that  I  cherished  most.  There  is  nothing 
left  for  me  now  but  to  hope  for  the  reahty  of  that 
repose  which  death  promises  us. 

"It  is  perhaps  better  that  the  delusion  should 
be  at  last  swept  away  by  one  single  word,  and 
that  word 'fraud.' 

''I  know  that  the  pursuit  of  this  shadowy 
belief  has  wrought  upon  my  brain  and  that  I  am 
no  longer  my  old  self.  Money  I  have  spent  in 
thousands  and  thousands  of  dollars  within  a  few 
short  years  to  propitiate  the  *  mediumistic '  intelli- 
gence. It  is  true  that  never  once  have  I  received 
a  message  or  the  token  of  a  word  that  did  not 
leave  a  still  unsatisfied  longing  in  my  heart,  a 
feeling  that  it  was  not  really  my  loved  one  after 
all,  who  was  speaking  to  me,  or  if  it  was  my 
loved  one,  that  he  was  changed,  that  I  hardly 
knew  him  and  that  he  hardly  knew  me.  Oh  ! 
how  I  have  hated  the  thought  that  used  to  come 
to  me  sometimes,  in  spite  of  myself,  that  it  was 
not  really  he.  But  that  must  have  been  the  true 
intuition.     It  is  better  that  the  delusion  is  past, 


SOLEMN   ABJURATION.  73 

after  all,  for  had  I  kept  on  in  that  way,  I  am  sure 
I  should  have  gone  mad.  The  constant  seeking, 
the  frequent  pretended  response,  its  unsatisfying 
meaning,  the  sense  of  distance  and  change 
between  me  and  my  loved  one — oh  !  it  has  been 
horrible,  horrible  ! 

"He  who  is  dying  of  thirst  and  has  the  sweet 
cup  ever  snatched  from  his  hps,  just  as  the  first 
drop  touches  them — he  alone  can  know  what  in 
actual  things  is  the  simiHtude  of  this  spirituaHstic 
torture. 

"  God  bless  you,  for  I  think  that*  you  now 
speak  the  truth.  You  have  my  forgiveness  at 
least,  and  I  beUeve  that  thousands  of  others  will 
forgive  you,  for  the  atonement  made  in  season 
wipes  out  much  of  the  stain  of  the  early  sin. 

"  Yours  sincerely, 

"Anna  Suzanne." 

To  these  letters  and  to  hundreds  of  others 
which  Mrs.  Kane  and  her  sister  Mrs.    Jencken 
have  received,  this  volume  is  their  response. 
4 


74  SOLEMN  ABJURATION. 

But  besides  this,  they  have  appeared  in  public 
on  the  platform,  as"  an  earnest  of  their  present 
sincerity,  and  will  probably  continue  so  to  appear 
in  various  parts  of  this  country  and  Europe. 

On  the  21st  of  October,  1888,  Mrs.  Margaret 
Fox  Kane  first  fulfilled  her  intention  of  publicly 
denouncing,  with  her  own  lips,  Spiritualism  and 
its  attendant  trickery.  She  appeared  at  the 
Academy  of  Music  in  New  York  before  a  large 
and  distinguished  audience,  and  without  reserva- 
tion demonstrated  the  falsity  of  all  that  she  had 
done  in  the  past  in  the  guise  of  spiritualistic 
''  mediumship." 

The  ordeal  was  a  severe  one.  The  great  nerv- 
ous strain  under  which  she  had  labored  rendered 
her  mind  highly  excitable,  and  the  large  number 
of  spiritualists  in  the  house  tried  to  create  a  dis- 
turbance, or  a  traitorous  diversion  which  would 
break  the  force  of  her  renunciation.  In  this  they 
utterly  failed,  however,  thanks  to  the  superior 
character  of  a  majority  of  her  auditors. 


Solemn  abjtjeation.  75 

The  moral  effect  of  the  exposure  could  not 
have  been  greater. 

Mrs.  Kane  stood  before  the  footlights  tremb- 
ling with  intense  feeling,  and  made  the  following 
most  solemn  abjuration  of  Spirituahsm,  while 
Mrs.  Catharine  Fox  Jencken  sat  in  a  neighboring 
box  and  gave  assent  by  her  presence  to  all  that 
she  said  : 

'^That  I  have  been  chiefly  instrumental  in 
prepetrating  the  fraud  of  Spiritualism  upon  a  too 
confiding  public,  most  of  you  doubtless  know. 

''  The  greatest  sorrow  of  my  hfe  has  been  that 
this  is  true,  and  though  it  has  come  late  in  ray 
day,  I  am  now  prepared  to  tell  the  truth,  the 
whole  truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth, — so  help 
me  God ! 

"There  are  probably  many  here  who  will 
scorn  me  for  the  deception  I  have  practiced,  yet 
did  they  know  the  true  history  of  my  unhappy 
past,  the  hving  agony  and  shame  that  it  has 
been  to  me,  they  would  pity,  not  reproach. 

''The  imposition  which  I  have  so  long  main- 


76  SOLEMN   ABJURATION. 

tained  began  in  my  early  childhood,  when,  with 
character  and  mind  still  unformed,  I  was  unable 
to  distinguish  between  right  and  wrong. 

"  I  repented  it  in  my  maturity.  I  have  Hved 
through  years  of  silence,  through  intimidation, 
scorn  and  bitter  adversity,  concealing  as  best  I 
might,  the  consciousness  of  my  guilt.  Now, 
thanks  to  God  and  my  awakened  conscience,  I 
am  at  last  able  to  reveal  the  fatal  truth,  the  exact 
truth  of  this  hideous  fraud  which  has  withered  so 
many  hearts  and  has  blighted  so  many  hopeful 
lives. 

^'I  am  here  to-night  as  one  of  the  founders  of 
Spiritualism,  to  denounce  it  as  an  absolute  false- 
hood from  beginning  to  end,  as  the  flimsiest  of 
superstitions,  the  most  wicked  blasphemy  known 
to  the  world. 

"I  ask  only  your  kind  attention  and  forgive- 
ness, and  as  I  may  prove  myself  worthy  by  the 
step  I  am  now  taking,  may  you  extend  to  me  your 
helping  hands  and  sustain  me  in  the  better  path 
I  have  chosen." 


60LEMN   ABJURATION.  77 

The  demonstration  of  the  method  by  which 
the  'Wrappings"  were  produced  was  a  perfect  suc- 
cess, as  is  best  shown  by  the  following  succinct 
account,  which  formed  a  part  of  the  article  on  the 
subject  pubHshed  by  the  New  York  World  on  the 
following  morning : 

A  plain  wooden  stool  or  table,  resting  upon  four 
short  legs,  and  having  the  properties  of  a  sounding  board, 
was  placed  in  front  of  her.  Kemoving  her  shoe,  she 
placed  her  right  foot  upon  this  table.  The  entire  house 
became  breathlessly  still,  and  was  rewarded  by  a  number 
of  little  short,  sharp  raps — those  mysterious  sounds 
which  have  for  more  than  forty  years  frightened  and 
bewildered  hundreds  of  thousands  of  people  in  this 
country  and  Europe.  A  committee,  consisting  of  three 
physicians  taken  from  the  audience,  then  ascended  to 
the  stage,  and  having  made  an  examination  of  her  foot 
during  the  progress  of  the  *'  rappings,"  unhesitatingly 
agreed  that  the  sounds  were  made  by  the  action  of  the 
first  joint  of  her  large  toe. 

Only  the  most  hopelessly  prejudiced  and  bigoted 
fanatics  of  Spiritualism  could  withstand  the  irresistable 
force  of  this  common-place  explanation  and  exhibition  of 
how  ''  spirit  rappings  "  are  produced.    The  demonstra- 


78  SOLEMN    ABJURATION. 

tion  was  perfect  and  complete,  and  if  '^  spirit  rappings^^ 
find  any  credence  in  this  community  hereafter,  it  would 
seem  a  wise  precaution  on  the  part  of  the  authorities  to 
begin  the  enlargement  of  the  State's  insane  asylums 
without  any  delay. 


m. 

HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  FRAUD. 


There  are  spiritualists  who  pretend  that 
so-called  '^  spirit  rappings  "  originated  long  before 
the  Hydesville  disturbances  took  place.  These 
declarations,  however,  are  of  no  value  as  actual 
evidence. 

In  any  event,  there  is  no  claim  that  in  their 
cause  and  general  character  these  manifestations, 
so-called,  were  very  different  from  similar  ones 
of  the  present  day. 

The  '^  rappings  "  produced  by  the  "  Fox  Sis- 
ters "  are  certainly  the  first  of  which  there  is  an 
authentic  account.  They  began  in  a  little  rustic 
cottage  at  a  place  called  Hydesville,  in  the  town 
of  Arcadia,  near  Newark,  Wayne  County,  New 

4*  [81] 


82  ORiaiN   OF  THE  FRAUD. 

York.  Here  John  D.  Fox  and  his  wife  Margaret 
dwelt  with  their  two  daughters,  Margaret  and 
Catherine.  Two  other  children,  Ann  Leah  and 
David  S.,  lived  elsewhere.  There  was  sometimes 
a  fifth  member  of  the  household,  also  a  child. 
This  was  Elizabeth  Fish,  the  daughter  of  Leah, 
and  therefore  the  niece  of  Margaret  and  Cathe- 
rine. She  was  seven  years  older  than  the  elder  of 
the  two  latter. 

The  elder  Fox  and  his  wife  had  not  been 
always  united  since  their  marriage.  They  were 
separated  for  a  number  of  years.  The  three 
old-er  children,  Ann  Leah,  Maria  and  David  S., 
were  conceived  before  this  separation  took  place, 
and  Margaret  and  Catherine  afterwards.  The 
two  broods  had  distinctive  characteristics.  The 
father,  in  the  interval,  is  said  to  have  become 
addicted  to  intemperate  habits.  The  taint  of 
heredity  may  excuse  much  in  the  younger  gene- 
ration that  sprang  from  a  weakness  of  will-power 
and  made  them  the  too  easy  victims  of  colder  and 
more  mercenary  natures.    To  many  it  is  well 


ORIGIN   OF   THE   FRAUD.  83 

known  that  they  are  still  incapable  of  guarding 
their  interests  in  a  business  way,  and  that  they 
have  always  been  too  largely  at  the  mercy  of  any 
one  who  could  acquire  an  influence  over  them. 

Margaretta,  or  Margaret,  Fox,  as  she  always 
signs  herself,  was  born  in  the  year  ISttO,  and 
Catherine  Fox  a  year  and  a  half  later.  The  eldest 
sister  Leah  was  born  twenty -three  years  before 
the  former.  The  little  girls,  one  eight  years  old 
and  the  other  six  and  a  half,  had  rarely  seen  this 
sister  prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  spirituaHstic 
movement.  She  knew  nothing  of  it  until  the 
popular  excitement  over  the  'Wrappings"  had 
alnuost  reached  its  climax.  Very  early  in  life  she 
had  married  a  man  named  Fish,  who  had  deserted 
her,  and  she  was  supporting  herself  at  this  time 
in  the  city  of  Eoch ester  by  teaching  the  rudi- 
ments of  music.  David  S.  Fox,  son  of  John 
and  Margaret  Fox,  Hved  about  two  miles  from 
the  home  of  his  father  in  Arcadia. 

Maggie  and  Katie  Fox  were  as  full  of  petty 
devilment  as  any  two  children  of  their  age  ever 


84  OBIGIN   OF   THE   FRAUD. 

were.  They  delighted  to  tease  their  excellent  old 
mother,  who  by  all  who  knew  her  is  described  as 
simple,  gentle  and  true-hearted.  In  their  antics, 
they  would  resort  to  all  sorts  of  ingenious  devices, 
and  bed- time  witnessed  almost  invariably  the 
gayest  of  larks.  One  of  their  frequent  amuse- 
ments was  to  plague  their  niece,  Elizabeth,  who 
slept  in  the  same  bed  with  them,  by  kicking  and 
tickling  her,  and  by  frightening  her  at  almost  any 
hour  of  the  night  out  of  sound  sleep. 

Their  riotous  fancy  soon  hit  upon  the  plan  of 
bobbing  apples  up  and  down  on  the  floor  in  their 
bedchamber,  as  a  means  of  scaring  Elizabeth  and 
of  puzzhng  their  mother  without  much  risk  of 
detection.  They  tied  strings  to  the  stems  of  the 
apples,  and  thus  let  them  hang  down  beside  the 
bed.  The  noise  of  dropping  them  more  or  less 
quickly  upon  the  floor  resembled  almost  anything 
that  the  imagination  chose  to  liken  it  to,  from 
raps  on  the  front  door  to  slippered  foot- falls  on 
the  narrow  stairway.  Whenever  a  search  was 
made  for  the  cause  of  the  noises,  the  apples  were 


ORIGIN   OF   THE  FEAUD.  85 

easily  hauled  up  into  the  bed  and  hidden  in  the 
bedclothes,  where  no  one  would  think  of  looking 
for  them,  at  least  at  that  stage  of  the  investiga- 
tion. 

The  plan  had  everything  in  it  to  charm  a 
juvenile  mischief-maker.  It  succeeded  admir- 
ably. It  was  not  tiU  the  wonder  which  was 
caused  by  these  strange  ^^knockings"  had 
extended  beyond  the  humble  Fox  household,  that 
the  suggestion  of  any  other  means  of  affording  to 
that  growing  feehng  its  daily  food  of  seeming 
evidence  came  to  the  roguish  youngsters. 

The  family  had  moved  into  the  house  at 
Hydesville  on  December  11,  1847.  The  mother 
began  to  hear  strange  sounds  almost  from  that 
date — strange  because  they  occurred  with  great 
frequency  and  were  oddly  repeated.  The  children 
slept  in  what  was  called  the  East  Eoom  ;  the 
parents  in  an  adjoining  chamber.  At  all  hours 
of  the  night,  almost,  the  sounds  were  heard  ;  but 
it  happened  that  they  always  occurred  when  one 
or  both  of  the  children  were  wide  awake.     The 


86  OEIGIN   OF  THE   FRAUD. 

mother,  in  a  statement  which  has  been  pubhshed 
as  one  of  the  so-called  proofs^  of  the  genuineness 
of  these  manifestations,  says  that  the  sounds 
could  with  difficulty  be  located.  *^  Sometimes  it 
seemed  as  if  the  furniture  was  moved;  but  on 
examination  we  found  everythins;  in  order.  The 
children  had  become  so  alarmed  that  I  thought 
best  to  have  them  sleep  in  the  room  with  us. 
'^  *  ^  On  the  night  of  the  first  disturbance  we 
all  got  up  and  lighted  a  candle  and  searched  the 
house,  the  noises  continuing  during  the  time,  and 
being  heard  near  the  same  place." 

How  natural  it  was  that  little  children,  being 
averse  to  sleeping  away  from  their  elders  in  a  dark 
room  in  a  lone  country  neighborhood,  should  take 
advantage  of  a  pretext  such  as  this  to  get  their 
bed  placed  nearer  to  that  of  their  parents  !  Such, 
indeed,  was  the  immediate  result. 

The  third  night  of  the  ^ Wrappings"  was  the 
31st  of  March,  1848.     Mrs.  Fox  says  : 

^'  The  children  tuho  dept  in  the  other  bed  in 


OEIGIN  OF  THE  FRAUD.  87 

the  rgom  heard  the  rajppings  and  tried  to  make 
similar  sounds  with  their  fingers, 

"Katie  exclaimed  : 

"  *  Mr.  Splitfoot/  (the  imaginary  person  who 
was  supposed  to  make  the  noises),  *  do  as  I  do  ;' 
clapping  her  hands.  The  sound  instantly  fol- 
lowed her  with  the  same  number  of  raps  ;  when 
she  stopped,  the  sound  ceased  for  a  short  time. 
Then  Margaret  said  in  sport :  '  Now,  do  just  as 
I  do  ;  count  one,  two,  three,  four,'  striking  one 
hand  against  the  other  at  the  same  time,  and  the 
raps  came  as  before.  -^  *  *  I  then  thought  I 
could  put  a  test  that  no  one  in  the  place  could 
answer.  I  asked  the  noises  to  rap  my  children's 
ages,  successively.  Instantly,  each  one  of  my 
children's  ages  was  given  correctly,  pausing 
between  them  sufficiently  long  to  individualize 
them  until  the  seventh,  at  which  a  longer  pause 
was  made,  and  then  three  more  emphatic  raps 
were  given,  corresponding  to  the  age  of  the  little 
one  that  died,  which  was  my  youngest  child.  I 
then  asked  :  '  Is  this  a  human  being  that  answers 


BS  ORIGIN   OF  THE  FKAUD. 

my  questions  so  correctly  V  There  was  no  rap. 
I  asked :  *  Is  it  a  spirit  ?  If  so,  make  two  raps,' 
which  were  instantly  given  as  soon  as  the  request 
was  made.  I  then  said  :  '  If  it  is  an  injured 
spirit,  make  two  raps,'  which  were  instantly 
made,  causing  the  house  to  tremble.  I  asked  : 
*  Were  you  injured  in  this  house  V  The  answer 
was  given  as  before.  ^  Is  the  person  living  that 
injured  you  V  Answer  by  raps  in  the  same  man- 
ner. I  ascertained  by  the  same  method  that  it 
was  a  man,  aged  thirty- one  years ;  that  he  had 
been  murdered  in  this  house  ;  and  his  remains 
were  buried  in  the  cellar ;  that  his  family  con- 
sisted of  a  wife  and  five  children,  two  sons  and 
three  daughters,  all  living  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  but  that  his  wife  had  since  died." 

Then  the  supposed  spirit  was  asked  if  it  would 
continue  to  '  ^  rap  "  if  the  neighbors  were  called  in 
to  listen.     The  answer  was  affirmative. 

And  so  they  were  called  in. 

This  caused  the  commencement  of  that  great 
excitement  which  so  soon  spread  from  neighbor- 


O&IGtN   OF   THE   FRAtTD.  89 

hood  to  village,  from  the  village  to  the  near-by 
city  of  Rochester,  and  thence  all  over  the  couq- 
try. 


Mrs.  Margaret  Fox  E[ane  says  at  the  present 
time  : 

'*  The  apple-dropping  trick  appeared  to  us  small 
children  so  simple  and  innocent,  that  we  could 
only  wonder  that  any  one  attached  so  great  an 
importance  to  the  sounds  we  produced.  Only 
think  of  our  ages  at  that  time,  and  then  ask,  if 
you  will,  how  we  could  have  even  the  shade  of  a 
realization  of  the  real  meaning  of  this  deception  ! 

'*  This  lying  book  of  Mrs.  Underbill's,  notwith- 
standing its  abominable  object,  does  give  some 
slight  inkling  of  the  truth  here  and  there. 

^^It  is  thus  that  the  wicked  confound  them- 
selves. 

^^  She  quotes,  as  you  see  here,  what  she  says 
to  be  my  mother's  words :  '  The  children  who 
slept  in  the  other  bed  in  the  room,  heard  the 


90  ORIGIN  OF  THE  FRAUD. 

rapping  and  tried  to  make  similar  sounds  by 
snapping  their  fingers.' 

'*  Now  that  is  really  just  how  we  fit'st  got  the 
idea  of  producing  with  the  joints  similar  sounds 
to  those  we  had  made  by  dropping  apples  with  a 
string.  From  trying  it  with  our  fingers  we  then 
tried  it  with  our  feet,  and  it  did  not  take  long  for 
us  to  find  out  that  we  could  easily  produce  very 
loud  raps  by  the  action  of  the  toe- joints  when  in 
contact  with  any  substance  which  is  a  good  con- 
ductor of  sound.  My  sister  Katie  was  the  first  to 
discover  that  we  could  make  such  peculiar  noises 
with  our  fingers.  We  used  to  practice  first  with 
one  foot  and  then  the  other,  and  finally  we  got 
so  we  could  do  it  with  hardly  an  effort. 

"  Of  course,  I  was  so  young  then  that  many 
incidents  have  escaped  my  memory.  I  assert 
positively,  however,  that  much  of  the  effect  of 
the  *  rappings '  is  greatly  exaggerated  in  this  state- 
ment which  my  mother  was  made  to  write.  I 
say  that  she  was  made  to  write  it,  because  the 
wording  of  the  statement,  if  not  largely  dictated 


ORIGIN   OF  THE  FRAUD.  91 

by  others  in  the  first  place— men  who  desired  to 
make  public  the  details  of  the  '  rappings '  and  to 
make  money  by  the  sale  of  a  pamphlet  describing 
them — was  afterwards  grossly  garbled,  that  it 
might  be  used  to  suit  the  dishonest  purposes  of 
professional  spmtualists.  I  am  not  eren  certain 
that  mother  ever  signed  the  document,  of  which 
Mrs.  Underbill  makes  such  great  parade.  The 
same  is  true  regarding  the  other  pieces  of 
so-called  evidence  in  her  work.  Utterly  futile  as 
they  are,  when  confronted  with  my  hving  testi- 
mony, and  when  judged  by  their  own  internal 
weakness,  I  should  not  regard  them  as  in  any 
sense  genuine  unless  I  could  see  the  original 
handwriting  and  could  recognize  the  signatures. 
I  say  to  you  now,  that  professional  spirituaHsts 
are  capable  of  going  to  any  lengths  to  bolster  up 
their  impostures.  No  forgery,  so  long  as  there 
was  the  least  chance  of  its.  succeeding,  as  a 
furtherance  to  their  object,  would  in  the  least 
repel  them.  Some  of  the  so-called  statements  in 
Leah's  book  I  beheve  were  manufactured  from 


92  OEiaiN  uF  THE  FEAUD. 

beginning  to  end,  though  to  tell  you  the  truth  I 
have  avoided  reading  the  greater  part  of  it 
because  of  the  disgust  I  have  felt  for  a  long  time 
for  that  whole  infamous  system  of  pretense  and 
falsehood.  - 

**  Well,  we  were  led  on  unintentionally  by  my 
good  mother  in  the  perpetration  of  this  great 
wrong.  She  used  to  say  when  we  were  sitting 
in  a  dark  circle  at  home  :  '  Is  this  a  disembodied 
spirit  that  has  taken  possession  of  my  dear  chil- 
dren V  And  then  we  would  *  rap '  just  for  the  fun 
of  the  thing,  you  know,  and  mother  would  declare 
that  it  was  the  spirits  that  were  speaking. 

*^Soon  it  went  so  far,  and  so  many  persons 
had  heard  the  '  rappings '  that  we  could  not  con- 
fess the  wrong  without  exciting  very  great  anger 
on  the  part  of  those  we  had  deceived.  So  we 
went  right  on. 

**  It  is  wonderful,  indeed,  how  two  little  chil- 
dren could  have  made  this  discovery,  and  how,  by 
simply  obeying  the  natural  thirst  for  the  marvel- 
ous, in  others,   and  their  inherent  superstition. 


ORIGIN    OF   THE   FRAUD.  93 

they  should  have  advanced  step  by  step,  in  the 
fraud,  deluding  those  who  most  ardently  wished 
to  be  deluded. 

''Until  first  suggested  to  us  by  our  mother, 
who  was  perfectly  innocent  in  her  belief,  the 
thought  of  '  spirits '  had  never  entered  our  heads. 
We  were  too  young  and  too  simple  to  imagine 
such  a  thing." 


94  GARBLED   AND   DISTORTED   TESTIMONY. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

GARBLED    AND  DISTORTED  TESTIMONY. 

So  the  neighbors  were  called  in  at  the  Hydes- 
ville  house  and  the  ^*  rappings  "  were  continued. 

By  diligent  questioning  on  the  part  of  the 
older  persons  in  the  Fox  household  and  of  tlie 
neighbors,  the  mysterious  noises  were  made  to 
affirm  or  to  deny  almost  anything  which  was 
suggested  to  the  '' mediums,"  often  in  accordance 
with  knowledge  that,  it  had  been  behoved,  was 
only  possessed  by  a  few  persons. 

And  so  the  wonder  grew,  day  by  day. 

Pursuing  the  idea  that  a  man  had  been 
murdered  in  the  house,  the  whole  of  a  very  horri- 
ble history  was  obtained,  and  the  name  even  of 
the  supposed  murderer  was  indicated  by  affima- 
tive    *^raps"    when    mentioned    together    with 


GARBLED    AND     DISTORTED   TESTIMONY.  D5 

others  in  a  tentative  way.  The  occupation  of  the 
victim  was  said  to  be  that  of  a  pedler.  He  had 
$500  in  money  and  was  buried  in  the  creek  which 
ran  past  the  house. 

Mrs.  Underhill  admits  that  some  of  the  neigh- 
bors were  misled  and  went  to  digging  in  the 
creek,  called  Ganargua,  the  water  of  which  was 
then  very  low.  But  they  speedily  recognized  the 
absurdity  of  this  undertaking,  and  the  girls, 
Maggie,  Katie  and  Lizzie  laughed  at  them  for 
their  pains.  The  bones  of  an  old  horse  were 
found  there  and  nothing  more. 

By  this  tinie  the  two  sisters  had  arrived  at 
very  great  proficiency  in  producing  the  raps. 
Such  a  crude  and  easily  detected  means  as  the 
bobbing  of  apples  on  the  floor  was  early  discarded. 
Often  in  the  morning,  before  they  dressed,  and 
after  the  old  folks  had  left  their  room,  the  sisters 
would  stand  in  their  bare  feet  on  the  floor  and 
vie  with  each  other  in  the  laughable  exercise  of 
making  the  *'  strange  "  noises.  It  was  impossible, 
of  course,  that  Lizzie  should  not  know  the  whole 


96  GARBLED   AND    DISTORTED   TESTIMONY. 

truth,  although  being  about  thirteen  years  old  at 
this  time,  she  was  unabled  to  imitate  the  '  ^  raps  " 
very  successfully.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that  she  was 
too  frank  and  outspoken  in  disposition  to  engage 
long  in  any  deception.  When  the  children  per- 
sisted in  deluding  their  mother,  partly  for  their 
amusement  and  partly  because  they  were  ashamed 
to  retract  what  had  already  caused  so  much  excite- 
ment and  had  drawn  so  much  attention  to  them- 
selves, Lizzie  used  to  break  out  indignantly  : 

''Now,  Maggie^  how  can  you  say  that  it  tvas 
done  by  spirits  !  You  know  yourself  that  ifs  all  a 
story.    Ifs  a  great  shame  to  pretend  such  things, ^^ 

Many  occurrences  of  this  description  I  have 
gathered  from  Mrs.  Kane. 

But  Mrs.  Leah  Underhill,  in  her  jumbled  up 
narrative,  states  that  ' '  Wlien  the  raps  broke  out 
suddenly  close  to  some  of  the  family,  or  at  the 
table,  one  of  the  girls  would  accuse  the  other  of 
having  caused  them,  saying,  '  Now  you  did  that, 
etc.,  etc.^^' 

Thanks  to  Mrs.  Leah  Underhill,  such  hints  of 


GARBLED   AND     DISTORTED   TESTIMONY.  97 

the  true  explanation  of  these  ^^manifestations" 
are  plentiful  throughout  her  book,  and  one  needs 
only  to  bring  some  httle  intelligence  to  bear  upon 
it  to  read  between  the  lines  the  whole  story  of 
the  fraud. 

And  here  let  me  quote  a  passage  which  only 
goes  to  show  how  very  strong  was  the  love  of 
deviltry  in  the  children : 

'^  Father  had  always  been  a  regular  Methodist 
in  good  standing,  and  was  invariable  in  his  prac- 
tice of  morning  prayers ;  and  ivhen  he  tvoiild  be 
kneeling  upon  Ms  chair,  it  luoiild  sometimes 
amuse  the  children  to  see  him  open  ivide  his  eyes 
as  knocks  ivoidd  sound  and  vibrate  on  his  chair 
itself.  He  expressed  it  graphically  to  mother  : 
'When  T  am  done  praying  that  jigging  stops.'  " 

Mrs.  Margaret  Fox  Kane  distinctly  remembers 
incidents  Hke  this  one  ;  only  she  qualifies  the 
narrative  by  saying  that  her  father  never  opened 
his  eyes  when  these  annoyances  came  while  he 
was  at  prayer,  but  went  devoutly  on  to  the  end 
without  heeding  them, 


98  GARBLED    AND   DISTOKTED   TESTIMONY. 

How  absurd  for  any  one  to  suppose  that  if 
these  sounds  were  produced  by  a  cause  unknown 
to  the  children,  they  would  laugh  at  them  and 
regard  them  as  very  great  sport,  instead  of  tremb- 
ling and  crying  with  affright  ! 

'^The  soui:ds  which  were  heard  at  those 
times,"  says  Mrs.  Kane  in  her  statement  to  the 
writer,  ^'  were  all  produced  by  Katie  and  myself, 
and  by  no  other  being  or  spirit  under  the  sun. 
Nor  did  we  always  do  it  with  our  feet.  Frequent- 
ly in  that  early  stago  of  the  excitement  about  the 
'rappings,'  we  would  make  the  sounds  with  our 
fingers,  provided  it  was  easy  to  do  so  without 
causing  suspicion.  In  order  to  do  it  unknown  to 
any  one,  we  would  sit  with  one  hand  hidden  by 
an  elbow  resting  upon  the  table,  or  the  woodwork 
of  a  chair. 

''Of  course,  our  mother  in  her  earnest  belief, 
poor  soul,  excited  us  to  do  a  great  deal  more  than 
otherwise  we  would  had  done.  The  mystery  of 
the  sounds  absorbed  her  entire  being  for  the 
time.     She  became  pale  and  worn-looking  and 


GARBLED   AT^D   DISTORTED   TESTIMONY.  99 

thought  that  great  misfortunes  were  to  happen, 
and  prayed  often  and  fervently.  I  can  well 
remember  how  my  heart  used  to  smite  me  at 
times  when  I  looked  upon  her  and  knew  that 
Katie  and  I  were  the  cause  of  all  her  trouble.  In 
later  years,  long  after  I  had  come  to  the  age  of 
understanding,  I  had  very  bitter  reasons  for  such 
pangs  of  remorse,  especially  towards  the  last  of 
mother's  life,  when,  as  I  know,  she  was  in  a  great 
measure  undeceived  and  feared  for  the  perdition 
of  the  souls  of  her  children." 

In  Mrs.  Underhill's  book,  (written  for  her  by 
another,)  there  is  an  effort  to  convey  the  impres- 
sion that  John  D.  Fox,  her  father,  shared  in  the 
belief  which  she  sought  to  estabhsh  in  the  spirit- 
ual origin  of  the  "  knockings."  Such  an  implica- 
tion Mrs.  Kane  declares  to  be  utterly  false.  He 
never  manifested  in  any  way  a  tendency  toward 
such  belief  ;  on  the  contrary,  he  always  showed 
by  his  conduct  and  his  manner  of  speech,  the 
utmost  repugnance  to  it,  and  a  perfect  contempt 
for  the  weakness  which  could  lead  one  into  it. 


100  GARBLED    AND    DISTORTED   TESTIMONY. 

Margaret  Fox,  the  mother,  used  to  say  to  her 
husband  : 

"^  Now,  John,  don't  you  see  that  it's  a  wonder- 
ful thing  ?" 

'^  No,  I  don't,"  he  would  answer.  "  Don't  talk 
to  me  about  it.  I  don't  want  to  hear  a  word 
about  it !" 

Mrs.  Margaret  Fox  Kane  says,  further:  ''My 
father  did  not  believe  in  Spiritualism.  The 
excitement  which  we  caused  annoyed  him  a  great 
deal.  He  signed  a  statement  which  merely 
amounted  to  his  declaring  that  he  did  not  know 
how  the  noises  originated.  He  was  cajoled  into 
doing  this.  He  wanted  to  get  rid  of  the  impor- 
tunities of  those  who  beheved,  or  affected  to 
believe,  in  the  'rappings.'" 


Such  is  the  story  of  the  earhest  "  rappings  "  at 
Hydesville. 

It  is  embelhshed  by  Mrs.  Underbill  witli  many 
transparent  falsehoods.  But  still  further  to  bol- 
ster it  up,  it  was  thought  necessary  to  discover 


GARBLED   AND    DISTOETED   TESTIMONY.  101 

traditions,  or  to  invent  ^^  hearsay  "anecdotes,  giv- 
ing to  the  house  in  which  they  hved  a  ghostly 
history.  There  are  few  country  houses  about 
which  the  memory  of  the  oldest  neighboring 
inhabitant  does  not  recall  something  or  other 
remarkable  and  strange,  which  was  told  him 
by  some  one  or  other  whose  identity  is  very 
indefinite,  in  the  dim,  distant  past.  Thus  it  is 
stated  that  odd  noises  had  been  heard  in  the 
Hydesville  house  during  several  previous  years  by 
successive  occupants.  But  it  is  confessed  that 
none  of  those  persons  (whose  testimony  no  one 
pretends  to  give)  had  obtained  any  intelhgible 
messages  from  another  world. 

'Mrs.  Kane  states  that  all  of  this  alleged  neigh- 
borhood gossip  was  totally  unknown  to  her  at 
the  time,  and  she  beHeves  that  it  had  its  chief — or 
perhaps  its  only — origin,  in  the  morbid  imagina- 
tions of  those  who  were  the  first  to  set  it  going. 


102         DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FBAUD. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FRAUD. 

Now  we  come  to  the  moment  when  Ann  Leah 
Fox  Fish,  the  eldest  sister,  thirty-one  years  of 
age  at  that  time,  appears  upon  the  scene  of  the 
wondrous  and  so-called  supernatural  commotion 
at  the  little  rustic  hamlet  of  Hydesville. 

No  '^mediumistic"  suggestions  or  impulses 
had  ever  come  to  her.  Not  one,  though  she  had 
lived  twenty-three  years  longer  in  the  world  than 
the  dark-eyed,  fascinating  little  girl  who  produced 
the  first  mysterious  sounds  in  her  mothers  home. 

The  excitement  had  reached  a  great  height, 
and  a  pamphlet  was  already  in  the  press  detaihng 
the  whole  of  the  wonderful  performances  at 
Hydesville,  when  Leah  first  heard  of  them.  She 
hastened  thither  at  once.     Some  idea  of  the  profit 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FKAUD.         103 

which  could  be  derived  from  awakened  pubhc 
interest  in  the  matter,  seems  to  have  come  to  her 
very  promptly.  She  found  that  the  family  had 
moved  from  the  ^* haunted"  house  to  that  of  her 
brother,  David.  She  investigated  the  source  of 
the  ' '  raps."  Mrs.  Kane  says  that  one  of  the  first 
things  which  she  did  upon  her  arrival  at  the 
house,  was  to  take  both  her  and  Katie  apart  and 
to  cause  them  to  undress  and  to  show  her  the 
manner  of  producing  the  mysterious  noises. 
!N  ever  for  a  moment  was  the  cold  and  calculating 
brain  of  the  eldest  sister  a  dupe  to  the  cunning 
pranks  of  the  little  childi^en.  So  interested  was 
she  in  the  matter,  that  she  insisted  upon  taking 
back  with  her  to  Eochester,  at  the  end  of  a  fort- 
night, her  daughter  Lizzie,  and  Katie,  her  sister — 
Maggie  not  being  inchned  to  go  with  her.  And, 
in  the  inteiwal,  she  practised  ^'^ rapping"  herself, 
with  her  toes,  after  the  manner  illustrated  by  the 
girls.  She  found  great  difficulty  in  producing 
the  same  effect,  however,  as  the  joints  of  her  feet 
were  no  longer  as  pliable  as  in  childhood.     The 


104:  DEVELOPMENT   OF  THE  FRAUD. 

effort  required  was  also  much  greater,  and  never 
during  her  whole  lifetime  did  she  succeed  in 
attaining  to  much  proficiency  in  this  method  of 
deception.  The  pronounced  movement,  neces- 
sary in  her  case  to  cause  even  a  faint  sound  to  be 
heard,  was  easy  to  detect. 

"Often,"  says  Mrs.  Kane,  "when  we  were 
giving  seances  together,  I  have  been  ashamed  and 
mortified  by  the  awkward  manner  in  which  she 
would  do  it.  People  would  observe  the  effort 
she  made  to  produce  even  moderate  Wrappings,' 
and  then  they  would  look  at  me  in  suspicion 
and  surprise.  It  required  every  bit  of  my  skill 
and  my  best  tact  to  prevent  them  from  going 
away  convinced  of  the  imposture." 

On  the  way  to  Eochester  by  canal,  the  '*  rap- 
pings,"  according  to  Mrs.  Underbill,  pursued  her. 
The  "Spirits  became  quite  bold  and  rapped 
loudly  "at  the  dinner-table  in  the  cabin;  ''and 
occasionally "  she  adds,  ''owe  end  of  the  table 
would  jump  up  and  nearly  spill  the  tuater  out  of 
our  glasses ;  hut  there  luas  so  much  noise  on  the 


DEVELOPMENT   OF  THE  I  BAUD.  105 

boat  {going  through  the  locks,  etc.)  that  only  tve, 
who  recognized  the  sounds,  kneto  of  them.^' 

It  would  be  easy,  indeed — on  this  very  thin 
reservation,  to  the  effect  that  '^only  we,  who 
recognized  the  sounds,  knew  of  them" — to 
denounce  the  whole  of  this  statement  as  the 
grossest  falsehood.  I  have,  however,  the  personal 
assurance  of  Mrs.  Catharine  Fox  Jencken  that 
the  'Wrappings"  were  really  heard,  but  that 
they  were  done  by  her  with  her  feet.  On  the 
other  hand,  she  declares  that  the  joggling  or  lift- 
ing of  the  table  never  took  place  ;  nor  did  she  ever 
hear  of  it  till  Mrs.  Underhill's  book  was  pub- 
lished. It  may  be  observed  here  that  the  latter 
carefully  refrains  from  informing  us  whether  the 
passengers  also  failed  to  observe  the  singular  dis- 
turbance of  the  cabin  table,  at  which  they  were 
dining. 

At  Eochester,  Mrs.  Fish  seems  to  have  de- 
voted herself  to  developing  and  elaborating  the 
falsehood  of  Spirituahsm.  Singularly  enough,  to 
this  matron,  who  had  never  before  evinced  the 


106         DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FRAUD. 

least  possession  of  so-called  ^^mediumistic  "  quali- 
ties, all  sorts  of  grotesque  and  terrorizing  won- 
ders now  arrived.  This  is  a  fair  specimen  of  her 
narrative,  relating  to  the  period  in  question  : 

**Inthe  evening,  my  friend,  Jane  Little,  and 
two  or  three  other  friends,  called  in  to  spend  an 
hour  or  two  with  us.  We  sang  and  I  played  on 
the  piano ;  but  even  then,  while  the  lamp  was 
burning  brightly(!),  I  felt  the  deep  throbbing  of 
the  dull  accompaniment  of  the  invisibles,  keeping 
time  to  the  music  as  I  played  ;  but  I  did  not  wish 
to  have  my  visitors  know  it,  and  the  spirits 
seemed  kind  enough  not  to  make  themselves 
heard  (!)  that  others  would  observe  what  was  so 
apparent  to  me." 

The  book  to  which  I  am  obliged  to  refer  so 
constantly,  and  which  is  a  good  example  of  the 
bulk  of  spiritualistic  literature,  is  full  of  passages 
ten  times  as  absurd  as  this  one,  and  having  just 
as  strongly  the  stamp  of  the  crudest  and  most 
clumsy  invention.  For  the  most  part,  the  only 
appropriate  treatment  for  such  absurdities  is  con- 


DEVELOPMENT   OP  THE  FRAtJD.  107 

temptuous  silence.  Occasionally,  however,  I 
shall  find  it  necessary,  for  the  sake  of  complete- 
ness in  this  exposition,  to  meet  them  with  posi- 
tive refutation,  which  in  reality  they  do  not 
deserve. 

Having  thus  got  one  of  the  clever  and  Hvely 
little  girls  under  her  own  control,  Leah  soon 
induced  her  mother  to  come  to  Eochester  with 
the  other.  Nothing  could  show  more  clearly  that 
she  had  already  formed  the  resolve  to  reap  a  har- 
vest of  gain  and  renown  from  this  auspicious 
beginning,  than  her  decisive  course,  instantly 
upon  realizing  the  public  wonder  and  curiosity 
which  the  ''  rappings  "  had  excited. 

It  was  absolutely  necessary  to  delude  some 
people  who  were  near,  and  who  should  have  been 
dear  to  her,  as  well  as  the  careless  and  easily 
gullible  public.  The  good  and  simple-hearted  old 
mother  would  never  have  been  a  partner  in  con- 
scious deception.  The  matter-of-fact,  unspecula- 
tive  father,  must  be  brought  to  a  point  where  he 
would  at  least  not  deny  the  claims  of  the  so-called 


108         DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FRAUD. 

'^  mediums,"  his  daughters.  The  honest  and  out- 
spoken Lizzie  must  be  awed  into  discretion  by  the 
prospect  of  great  prosperity,  which  was  opened 
before  them,  and  the  lesson  that  if  she  spoke  too 
freely  they  would  surely  be  deprived  of  it.  Some 
stalwart  and  docile  sympathizers  must  be  enlisted 
outside  of  her  own  people  who  could  be  depended 
upon  to  stand  by  them  as  against  too  strenuous 
inquiry,  or  hot-tempered  public  assault. 

Immediately  upon  Margaret's  arrival  at  the 
house  in  Eochester,  in  which  Mrs.  Fish  hved,  and 
which  adjoined  a  graveyard,  the  *^  manifes- 
tations "  redoubled.  They  were  produced  by  the 
combined  efforts  of  Leah,  Margaret  and  Katie. 
Mrs.  Underbill  narrates  that  one  night,  about 
this  time,  a  ''  spirit "  walked  about  in  their  room, 
as  if  in  his  bare  feet,  when  they  were  all  supposed 
to  be  in  bed.  She  continues;  ^^He  answered 
my  question  by  stamping  on  the  floor.  I  was 
amused — although  afraid.  He  seemed  so  willing 
to  do  my  bidding  that  I  could  not  resist  the  temp- 
tation of  speaking  to  him  as  he  marched  around 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FRAUD.  109 

my  bed.  I  said,  ^  Flat  Foot^  can  you  dance  the 
Highland  fling  ?'  This  seemed  to  delight  him.  I 
sang  the  music  for  him,  and  he  danced  most 
admirably.  This  shocked  mother  and  she  said  : 
'  0,  Leah,  how  can  you  encourage  that  fiend  by 
singing  for  him  to  dance?'  I  soon  foimd  that 
they  took  advantage  of  my  famlHarity,  and  gath- 
ered in  strong  force  around  us.  And  here  lan- 
guage utterly  fails  to  describe  the  incidents  that 
occurred.  Loud  whispering,  giggling,  scuffling, 
groaning,  death-struggles,  murder  scenes  of  the 
most  fearful  character — I  forbear  to  describe 
them.  Mother  became  so  alarmed  that  she  called 
to  Calvin  to  come  up  stairs.  He  came — angry  at 
the  spirits — and  declared  that  ^  he  would  conquer 
or  die  in  the  attempt.'  This  seemed  to  amuse 
them.  They  went  to  his  bed,  raised  it  up  and  let 
it  down,  and  shook  it  violently.  He  was  still 
determined  not  to  yield  to  them. 

''Before  Calvin  came  up  stairs,  and  during  a 
short  lull  in  their  performances,  we  quickly 
removed  our  beds  to  the  floor,  hoping  thereby  to 


110  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FRAUD. 

prevent  them  from  raising  iis  up  and  letting  us 
down  with  such  violence.  Calvin  said  as  he 
came  up,  that  we  were  foolish  to  make  our  beds 
on  the  floor,  as  it  pleased  the  spirits  to  see  how 
completely  they  had  conquered  us.  So  he  laid 
down  on  his  bed,  and  quietly  awaited  develop- 
ments. Mother  said,  'Calvin,  I  wish  your  bed 
was  on  the  floor,  too.  We  have  not  been 
disturbed  since  we  left  the  bedstead.'  Calvin 
remarked,  '  They  are  up  to  some  deviltry  now.  I 
hear  them.'  He  no  sooner  uttered  these  words, 
than  a  shower  of  slippers  came  flying  at  him  as 
he  lay  in  his  bed.  He  bore  this  without  a  mur- 
mur. The  next  instant  he  was  stnick  violently 
with  his  cane.  He  seized  it  and  stiTick  back, 
right  and  left,  with  all  his  strength,  without  hit- 
ting anything ;  but  received  a  palpable  hang  in 
return  for  every  thrust  he  made.  He  sprang  to 
his  feet  and  fought  with  all  his  might.  Every- 
thing thrown  at  him  he  pitched  back  to  them, 
until  a  brass  candlestick  was  thrown  at  him,  cut- 
ting his  hp.     This  quite  enraged  him.     He  pro- 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FRAUD.  Ill 

nounced  a  solemn  malediction  and  throwing  him- 
self on  the  bed,  he  vowed  he  would  have  nothing 
more  to  do  with  'fiendish  spirits.' 

*^He  was  not  long  permitted  to  remain  in 
quiet  there.  They  commenced  at  his  bedstead 
and  deliberately  razed  it  to  the  floor,  leaving  the 
headboard  in  one  place,  the  footboard  in  another, 
the  two  sides  at  angles,  and  the  bedclothes  scat- 
tered about  the  room.  He  was  left  lying  on  his  mat- 
tress, and  for  a  moment  there  was  silence  ;  after 
which  some  shght  movements  were  heard  in  the 
'green  room.'  I  had  stowed  a  large  number  of 
balls  of  carpet  rags  in  an  old  chest  standing  on 
the  floor,  with  two  trunks  and  several  other  arti- 
cles on  the  top  of  it.  It  seemed  but  the  work  of  a 
moment  for  them  to  get  at  the  carpet  balls, 
which  came  flying  at  us  in  every  direction,  hit- 
ting us  in  the  same  place  every  time.  They  took 
us  for  their  target,  and  threw  with  the  skill  of  an 
archer.  Darkness  made  no  difference  with  them, 
and  if  either  of  us  attempted  to  remonstrate 
against  such  violence,  they  would  instantly  give 
the  remonstrant  the  benefit  of  g.  ball." 


112  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FRAUD. 

Mrs.  Kane  remembers  with  tolerable  distinct- 
ness the  antics  that  distinguished  this  sojourn  of 
her  mother,  herself  and  her  sisters  in  the 
Eochester  house.  She  and  Katie  did  indulge  in 
wild  larks  in  the  sleeping  rooms  of  the  family  at 
all  hours  of  the  night.  The  ''whispering"  and 
"giggling,"  the  ''scuffling"  and  "groaning,"  and 
the  tragic  mimicry  were  natural  to  childish  dare- 
devils like  themselves,  and  one  can  well  under- 
stand how,  with  the  attendant  "  rappings,"  the 
showers  of  slippers  hurled  from  the  "green 
r^om,"  the  shaking  of  Calvin's  bed  and  the 
"  banging  "  of  him  on  the  head,  these  things  may 
have  made  the  desired  impression  upon  both  him 
and  the  mother.  Mrs.  Kane  says  that  this  is  the 
true  and  only  explanation  of  it  all,  and  that  in 
comparatively  recent  years,  at  seances  in  Adelphi 
Hall,  New  York,  she  has  done  the  most  audacious 
things,  similar  in  character  to  these,  under  cover 
of  semi-darkness,  and  has  not  been  detected, 
simply  because  nearly  all  of  those  who  were  pres- 
ent were  believers  and  were  not  too  curious, 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FLAUD.  113 

There  is  another  ^*  evidence"  given  by  Ann 
Leah  which  is  too  pitiably  ridiculous  to  be  con- 
sidered, except  as  a  subject  of  laughter. 

'*  Often  at  meal-time,"  she  says,  ^Hhe  table 
would  be  gradually  agitated,  and  Calvin  in  partic- 
ular, [alas,  poor  Calvin !]  would  be  more  disturbed 
than  the  rest  of  us.  Once  he  arose  from  his  chair 
and  reached  across  the  table  for  a  heavy  pitcher 
of  water,  when  the  chair  was  instantly  removed 
and  he  sat  down  on  the  floor,  spilling  the  water 
all  over  himself  P^ 

Mrs.  Kane's  sole  comment  upon  this  is  :  '*  Of 
course,  we  slily  did  it,  as  we  did  many  other 
hoydenish  tricks. 

''  We  also  used  to  twitch  mother's  cap  off  and 
gently  jerk  the  comb  out  of  her  hair,  just  to  tease 
her.  Leah  says  that  these  things  were  done  by 
the  spirits!  How  silly  to  address  such  a  puer- 
ile pretense  to  any  one  gifted  with  common 
sense !" 

As  a  companion  picture  to  what  has  gone 
before,  let  the  reader  also  engrave  this  ''  miracul- 
ous" scene  upon  the  retina  of  his  imagination  ; 


Ill  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FKAUD. 

^^  We  had  stored  our  winter  provisions  in  the 
cellar.  Among  them  were  several  barrels  of 
appleSj  potatoes,  turnips,  etc.  'From  this  cellar 
came  the  apples,  potatoes  and  turnips  flying 
across  our  room,  hitting  all  in  precisely  the  same 
place  every  time.  It  will  now  be  remembered 
that  these  articles  were  in  the  cellar  under  the 
ground  floor,  and  had  to  come  from  the  rear  of  the 
cellar,  through  the  door,  into  the  kitchen,  up  the 
stairs,  into  the  pantry  on  the  second  floor,  through 
the  pantry  into  the  dining  room,  up  the  second 
flight  of  stairs,  into  the  large  room  in  which  we 
slept,  hitting  us  as  we  lay  in  our  beds  near  the 
front  window.     ^    -^    ^ 

^' A  cabinet  shop  was  the  next  thing  repre- 
sented by  the  spirits.  They  seemed  to  be  pos- 
sessed of  all  kinds  of  tools  to  work  with.  After 
sawing  off  boards  they  would  let  them  fall  heavily 
on  the  floor,  jarring  everything  around  them. 
Then,  after  planing,  jointing,  driving  nails,  and 
screwing  down  the  lid  of  a  coffin,  they  would 
shove  the  hollow  sounding    article    about    the 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FRAUD.  115 

room.  (This  we  understood  at  a  later  day.) 
Often  to  our  utter  amazement,  pickets  from  the 
discarded  lots  in  the  cemetery  came  flying 
through  the  room  over  our  heads,  on  our  beds, 
like  debris  in  a  tornado.  They  came  from  the 
extreme  west  side  of  the  burying-ground,  through 
that  lot,  and  the  distance  of  about  two  hundred 
feet  through  our  lot  -,  an  entire  distance  of  about 
four  hundred  feet.  That  they  came  by  no  visible 
means,  we  knew  ;  as  no  human  power  could  have 
thrown  them  through  the  air  into  our  chamber 
window,  hitting  us  in  our  beds,  in  the  same  place 
every  time." 

In  July,  1848,  Leah,  her  sisters  and  mother, 
revisited  the  Hydesville  house,  which  was  then 
unoccupied.  David,  the  brother,  had  fallen  by 
this  time  into  the  plans  of  Leah,  whether  a  dupe 
or  an  accomplice,  Margaret,  even  at  this  day,  is 
unable  to  say.  To  him  was  due  the  very  first 
suggestion  that  the  so-called  spirits  might 
communicate  with  the  living  by  means  of  the 
alphabet.      And  since  then,  this  has  been  the 


116  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FRAUD. 

chief  stay  of  spiritualism,  literally  the  A  B  C  of 
all  its  so-called  science.  It  is  a  singular  com- 
mentary upon  the  consistency  of  the  ^'  spirits," 
or  the  good  faith  of  those  who  professed  to  inter- 
pret their  messages,  that  the  code  of  communica- 
tion at  first  employed  in  their  circles  was  entirely 
different  in  the  meaning  of  the  simple  signals 
used  from  the  one  which  finally  was  adopted. 
Would  the  '^  spirits,"  think  you,  who  are  divorced 
from  the  trammels  of  this  world,  have  been 
guilty  of  this  simple  error  and  have  been  obliged 
to  correct  it  afterward,  had  they  not  been  impos- 
tors ? 

The  object  of  Mrs.  Fish  in  going  back  to 
Hydesville  is  quite  apparent.  There  was  yet  an 
unworked  mine  of  wonder  and  superstition,  out  of 
which  the  dusfc  of  dross  might  be  thrown  into  the 
eyes  of  the  credulous,  as  the  pure  gold  of  revela- 
tion. 

In  the  first  place,  it  was  necessary  to  get  from 
the  so-called  invisible  intelligence  an  injunction 
to  seek  for  proofs  of  the  foul  murder  which  it 


DEVELOPMENT  OP  THE  EEAUD.  117 

had  been  said  had  been  committed  in  the  house 
where  the  ^ Wrappings"  were  originally  heard. 

Mind  you,  months  had  then  elapsed  since  the 
digging  had  been  first  done  in  the  cellar  and  the 
Ganargua  creek  near  by,  and  David  S.,  who  was 
now  wholly  in  sympathy  with  Leah  in  her  view 
of  the  future  importance  of  the  new  superstition, 
had  lived  in  the  neighborhood  ever  since,  while 
nobody  had  remained  in  the  '^  haunted  "  house  to 
be  cognizant  of  what  might  have  taken  place 
there  in  the  mean  time. 

By  the  new  code  system  of  obtaining  answers 
to  queries,  a  mandate  to  dig  up  the  cellar  and  to 
search  for  something  or  other  there  was  obtained, 
and  obeyed,  the  work  lasting  two  or  three  days. 
It  is  stated  by  Leah  that  some  fragments  of  an 
earthen  bowl,  a  few  bones,  some  teeth  and  some 
bunches  of  hair  were  found.  She  says  that 
doctors  pronounced  the  bones  to  be  human. 

Of  course,  the  names  of  these  doctors  are 
nowhere  to  be  found  in  her  volume,  nor  does  any 
one,  unwarped  by  prejudice,  really  believe  more 
than  a  very  small  part  of  this  story. 


118         DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FRAUD. 

That  there  was  digging  is  certain. 

That  there  had  been  plenty  of  time  to  hide 
anything  that  David  Fox  had  desired  to  hide  in 
the  cellar,  is  certain. 

Yet  Mrs.  Kane  remembered  absolutely  nothing 
about  anything  having  been  found  in  the  cellar 
that  bore  the  slightest  semblance  to  any  portion 
of  the  human  frame.  If  any  bones  (perchance, 
like  those  found  in  the  creek,  the  skeleton  of  a 
horse)  were  uncovered,  she  denies  positively  that 
any  doctor  ever  gave  the  opinion  that  they  were 
the  remains  of  a  man. 

She  pronounces  equally  false,  the  statement  of 
Leah  that  about  the  time  the  digging  was  aban- 
doned, on  account  of  the  angry  interference  of  a 
mob,  the  spades  of  the  diggers  struck  upon  a  hol- 
low-sounding, wooden  substance,  which  might  or 
might  not  have  been  a  box  of  ill-gotten  plunder, 
or  the  rough  sepulchre  of  the  slain  pedler. 

The  indignation  of  the  neighboi's  of  the  Foxes 
in  Arcadia  was  not  so  much  duo  to  the  fact  that 
the  latter  persisted  in  pretend iiig  to  communicate 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FBAUD.  119 

with  ghosts  and  uncanny  elfs,  as  it  was  to  the 
totally  unwarranted  suspicion  which  had  been 
cast  through  the  early  'Wrappings"  upon  a  man 
named  Bell,  who  had  formerly  hved  in  the  house, 
which  it  was  now  pretended  was  haunted.  This, 
as  well  as  other  evidence  of  the  public  feeling  at 
that  time,  was  cleverly  employed  for  her  own 
benefit  by  Leah,  who  easily  foresaw  how  any- 
thing that  might  bear  the  semblance  of  religious 
persecution  would  promote  her  cause,  false 
though  it  was,  by  bringing  to  it  both  greater 
notoriety  and  widespread  sympathy. 

There  is  no  doubt,  too,  that  if  there  had  not 
been  a  very  strong  vein  of  superstition  in  the  Fox 
family,  the  first  ^^rappings"  would  never  have 
produced  the  deep  impression  that  they  did  on  the 
mother  and  her  son  David.  Many  strange  stories, 
which  had  been  handed  down  from  a  grand- 
father or  a  great-grandfather,  a  great  uncle  or  a 
great  aunt,  were  told  at  the  fireside  with  such 
embellishment  as  will  inevitably  come  from 
recital    and    repetition    to    a    wonder- delighting 


120         DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FRAUD. 

audience.  There  were  traditions  of  prophecies 
fulfilled  and  of  dumb  cattle  behaving  queerly,  all 
of  which  Mrs.  Underhill  has  very  carefully  set 
down  and  magnified  in  her  own  peculiar  manner 
to  her  own  unholy  purpose. 


THE  MEKCENAPwY   CAMPAIGN.  121 


CHAPTEE IX. 

THE  MEECENARY  CAMPAIGN. 

Tlie  public  campaign  of  Spiritualism  was  now 
begun. 

A  suflScient  hubbub  had  been  made  over  it  to 
induce  attention  from  all  sorts  and  conditions  of 
people. 

The  mother  and  her  daughters  went  again  to 

Eochester,   and  there  placed  themselves  in  the 

hands    of   the    first    of    many   '^committees  of. 

friends"  who  were  used  as  tools  or  confederates, 

according  to  their  character^  to  '* humbug"  the 

public   more    completely.      The    character   and 

functions  of   these  committees  may  be  judged 

from  the  following,  which  is  found  in  Leah's 

book:     ''The  names    of    this    committee    were 

Isaac  Post,   R.   D.  Jones,  Edward  Jones.   John 
6 


122  THE  MERCENARY   CAMPAIGN. 

Kedzie  and  Andrew  Clackner.  They  were  faith- 
ful  friends,  who  never  permitted  any  one  to  visit 
us  unattended  by  themselves  or  some  reliable  per- 
son.''^ 

The  so-called  spirits  soon  urged  in  laborious 
communications  that  it  was  needful  to  make 
their  demonsifrations  more  public,  and  that  an 
"investigation"  of  the  'Wrappings,"  ought  there- 
fore to  be  made  by  some  well-known  men.  The 
"  spirits "  were  even  so  kind  as  to  spell  out  by 
means  of  the  tentative  alphabet,  the  names  of  those 
whom  they  wished  to  have  appointed  to  perform 
this  part.  The  desire  for  advertisement,  indeed, 
was  not  likely  to  cause  the  rejection  of  the  name 
of  any  available  person,  whose  prominence  would 
increase  the  pubhc  interest  in  the  movement. 
We  are  not  astonished,  then,  to  find  that  Fred- 
erick Douglass  was  one  of  those  present  at  this 
earliest  farce  of  investigation.  It  was  the  fore- 
runner of  many  others  which  were  like  unto  it, 
and  gradually,  in  their  stations  in  various  cities, 
the  ^'  Fox  Sisters  "  drew  to  their  soances  nearly  all 


THE  MERCENARY   CAMPAIGN.  123 

of  the  conspicuous  persons  of  the  time,  who 
regarded  the  effects  exhibited  to  them  in  as  many 
different  hghts  as  their  minds  and  characters  were 
different. 

Naturally  enough,  after  this  compliance  with 
their  desires,  the  "spirits"  directed  that  a  pubhc 
exhibition  should  be  given.  The  largest  hall  in 
Eochester  was  hired  for  the  purpose. 

And  here  the  infamy  of  bringing  forward  two 
little  girls  to  do  the  work  of  base  and  vulgar 
charlatanism,  appears  in  all  its  revolting  charac- 
ter. The  eldest  of  the  children  was  then  but 
nine  years  old.  Had  she  been  dressed  in  accord- 
ance with  her  tender  age,  it  would  have  taken 
only  very  slight  observation  to  detect  the  secret  of 
the  "rappings."  Those  persons  now  living,  who 
were  present  at  this  and  at  other  public  exhibi- 
tions of  Spiritualism  at  that  time,  will  easily 
remember  that  Margaret  and  Catherine  Fox 
appeared  on  a  platform  in  long  gowns,  as  if  they 
had  been  full-grown  women.  The  dresses  were 
expressly  prepared  by  order  of  Mrs.  Ann  Leah 


124  THE  MERCENARY   CAMPAIGN. 

Fox  Fish,  the  evil  genius  of  these  unfortunate 
victims.  Without  these  robes  nothing  whatever 
could  have  been  done  in  the  way  of  ''  spirit  rap- 
pings,"  under  the  matter-of-fact  scrutiny  of  the 
public. 

To  carry  out  the  delusion  to  the  utmost,  every 
detail  touching  these  earliest  exhibitions  was 
directed  through  '' spirit  rappings,"  even  to  the 
insertion  of  grandiloquent  notices  in  the  news- 
papers. 

In  all  of  the  "  investigations  "  of  the  ^Wrap- 
pings," at  this  or  at  any  other  time,  the  attentive 
student  will  find  somewhere  a  loop-hole  of  escape 
from  observation,  an  unguarded  avenue  of  detec- 
tion. In  some  of  the  principal  seances,  described 
at  great  length  by  Leah,  the  conditions  favorable 
to  fraud  and  illusion  were  so  very  obvious  that 
they  ought  to  have  excited  derision  in  the  veriest 
child. 

The  following  passage  in  the  report  of  a  so- 
called  investigation,  is  pointed  to  by  professional 
spiritualists  as  one  of  the  best  ^^ evidences"  of  the 
genuineness  of  Spirituahsm  ; 


THE   MERCENARY    CAMPAIGN.  125 

''  One  of  the  committee  placed  one  of  his 
hands  on  the  feet  of  the  ladies  and  the  other  on 
the  floor,  and  though  the  feet  were  not  moved, 
there  was  a  distinct  jar  of  the  floor." 

Here,  then,  there  were  three  operators  and 
one  investigator.  The  latter  puts  his  hand  on 
the  feet  of  the  ladies.*  How  many  feet,  pray  you  ? 
There  were  six  feet  on  the  platform,  as  we  know, 
all  of  which  had  been  carefully  educated  in  the 
production  of  *^raps."  Could  one  man's  hand 
cover  them  all  ?  And  if  it  could  not,  does  not  this 
pretended  *'  evidence  "  fall  at  once  to  the  ground  ? 

All  of  the  recitals  made  by  spirituaHstic 
writers  concerning  the  doings  of  the  ^^Fox  Sis- 
ters," contain  this  element  of  vagueness,  the  lack 
of  precision  and  completeness,  which  to  persons 
unaccustomed  to  analysis  may  possibly  appear 
plausible  enough,  but  to  the  experienced  inquirer 
is  merely  a  more  certain  proof  of  weakness  and 
prevarication. 

Volumes  might  be  written  to  meet  the  state- 
ments advanced  in  every  case,  and  to  show  how 


126  THE   MERCENARY    CAMPAIGN. 

clumsily  misleading  they  are.  It  is  not  worth 
while  at  this  late  day,  and  in  that  direction,  to  do 
more  than  I  have  already  accomplished  in  this 
chapter. 

Indeed,  the  actual  demonstration  of  the  fact 
that  the  far-famed  'Wrappings"  are  produced  in 
the  manner  described  at  the  beginning  of  this 
work,  should  be  quite  sufficient  to  all  logical 
minds,  to  condemn  every  claim  that  the  profes- 
sional mediums  have  advanced  as  being  the 
agents  of  any  supernatural  manifestations. 

The  good  old  Latin  maxim  never  applied  with 
greater  force  than  it  does  here  :  Falsus  in  unum, 
falsus  in  omnibus. 

The  operations  of  the  eldest  sister  all  tended 
to  the  one  end  :  fame  and  tnoney.  In  Rochester, 
fees  for  the  first  time  were  accepted  by  '^  medi- 
ums," and  shortly  afterward  a  tariff  of  prices 
for  admission  to  the  seances  and  the  ^'private 
circles "  was  adopted  and  made  public.  No 
jugglers  ever  drove  a  more  prosperous  business 
than  did  the   ^^Fox  family"  for  a  number  of 


THE    MERCENARY    CAMPAIGN.  127 

years,  when  once  fairly  launched  upon  that  sea  of 
popular  wonder,  which  somebody  has  said  is  sup- 
phed  by  the  inherent  fondness  of  mankind  for 
being  humbugged. 

Mrs.  Fish  had  actually  the  project  of  founding 
a  new  rehgion,  and  she  tried  hard  to  convince 
her  younger  sisters  and  her  own  child  that  there 
were  really  such  things  as  spiritual  communica- 
tions, notwithstanding  that  aU  of  those  that  were 
produced  in  their  seances  they  knew  to  be  per- 
fectly false.  She  asserted  that  even  before  Maggie 
and  Katie  were  born  she  had  received  messages 
warning  her  that  they  were  destined  to  do  great 
things. 

''  In  all  of  our  seances,  while  we  were  under 
her  charge,"  says  Mrs.  Kane,  *'we  knew  just 
when  to  rap  '  yes  '  and  when  to  rap  '  no '  by  sig- 
nals that  she  gave  us,  and  which  were  unknown  to 
any  one  but  ourselves.  Of  course,  we  were  too 
young,  then,  to  have  been  successful  very  long  in 
deluding  people,  had  it  not  been  for  an  arrange- 
ment such  as  this. 


128  THE    MERCENARY    CAMPAIGN. 

^*Her  own  daughter,  Lizzie,  had  no  manner 
of  patience  with  her  transparent  pretence. 

" '  Ma,'  she  would  exclaim,  when  Leah 
attempted  to  impress  her  with  a  belief  in  some  of 
the  frauds  w^hich  she  perpetrated,  '  how  can  you 
ever  pretend  that  that  is  done  by  the  spirits  ?  I 
am  ashamed  to  know  even  that  you  do  such 
things — it's  dreadfully  wicked.'  " 

Some  day  it  will  be  known  that  one  other  per- 
son beside  Lizzie,  who  afterwards  occupied  a  filial 
relation  to  this  woman,  detested  even  more 
strongly  the  atmosphere  of  hypocrisy  and  deceit 
with  which  the  latter  surrounded  herself,  and 
hated,  too,  the  rankhng  obligation  under  which  an 
unkind  fate  had  placed  her. 

It  is  not  sa  wonderful  that  men  of  learning 
and  originality  were  drawn  to  the  mysterious 
seances  of  the  Fox  girls,  when  it  is  considered 
that  they  became  a  sort  of  fashionable  ^*fad,"  as 
the  receptions  of  Mesmer  did  in  the  last  century 
in  Paris.  There  were  great  opportunities  there 
for  studying  human  nature,  and  the  period 
0* 


THE   MERCENARY   CAMPAIGN.  129 

was  one  of  a  notable  awakening  of  scientific  and 
transcendental  speculation.  Such  men  as  Greeley, 
Bancroft,  Fenimore  Cooper,  Bryant,  N.  P.  Willis, 
Dr.  Francis,  John  Bigelow,  Eipley,  Dr.  Griswold, 
Dr.  Ehphalet  Nott,  Theodore  Parker,  Wilham 
M.  Thackeray,  James  Freeman  Clarke,  Thomas 
M.  Foote  and  Bayard  Taylor,  and  women  of  the 
intellectual  strength  of  Alice  Cary  and  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe  became  deeply  interested.  But 
nearly  all  of  these  lost  their  interest  in  Spiritual- 
ism in  time,  for  they  became  morally,  if  not  posi- 
tively convinced,  that  the  effects  produced  were 
the  mere  result  of  fraud. 

There  was  another  attraction,  however,  in 
those  early  days.  The  younger  ^'mediums" 
were  both  very  pretty  and  very  young.  Sympa- 
thy and  commiseration,  as  much  as  aught  else, 
often  drew  visitors  to  them,  and  caused  such  visi- 
tors to  continue  their  friends.  Thus,  we  find  that 
Horace  Greeley  and  Dr.EHsha  Kent  Kane  became 
important  factors  in  the  lives  of  botli  of  these  in- 
teresting creatm-es,  the  former  educating  Katie, 
and  the  latter  striving  to  form  Maggie's  mind 


130  THE   MERCENARY   CAMPAIGN. 

and  to  reform  her  character  with  the  express 
object  of  making  her  his  wife. 

Mrs.  Kane,  in  commenting  upon  the  Hfe  which 
she  led  at  that  time,  says  : 

''  When  I  look  back,  I  can  only  say  in  defense 
of  my  depraved  calling,  that  I  took  not  the 
shghtest  pleasure  in  it.  The  novelty  and  the  ex- 
citement that  had  half  intoxicated  me  as  a  child 
were  fast  being  dissipated.  The  true  conception 
of  this  infamous  thing  soon  dawned  upon  me. 
The  awakening  was  full  of  anguish — the  anguish 
of  hope,  as  well  as  the  anguish  of  grief.  I  then 
first  knew  Dr.  Kane,  and  with  that  acquaintance 
entered  the  new  light  into  my  life." 


6PIKITUALISTIC   BOOMERANGS.  131 


CHAPTER  X. 

SPIRITUALISTIC  BOOMERANGS.. 

In  nearly  all  of  the  so-called  investigations  of 
the  ^^rappings"  produced  by  the  ^^  Fox  Sisters," 
there  was  an  absolute  absence  of  genuine  scien- 
tific inquiry.  Only  once  in  this  critical  stage  of 
their  career,  did  they  submit  to  experiment  and 
examination  by  doctors  of  unquestioned  repute 
and  learning.  The  result  of  this  iu  vestigation  has 
been  held  up  by  professional  spirituahsts  as  a 
triumphant  proof  that  the  source  of  'Wrappings" 
was  beyond  any  mortal  finding  out.  The  fact  is 
that  the  doctors  hit  upon  the  right  principle  at 
the  inception  of  the  inquiry,  but  were  misled  into 
a  wrong  application  of  it,  an  error  which  the 
"  mediums,"  of  course,  encouraged  up  to  a  certain 
point,  so  that  they  might  gain  prestige  after- 
wards by  refuting  it.     Following  out  this  pohcy, 


132  SPIRITUALISTIC   BOOMERANGS. 

Mrs.  Underhill  has  incorporated  in  her  book  the 
testimony  of  the  doctors,  heedless  of  the  law  of 
destiny,  that  truth  must  prevail  finally. 

I  propose  to  take  this  same  statement  of  the 
doctors,  based  as  it  is  upon  an  erroneous  assump- 
tion and  a  correct  theory,  and  show  how  strongly 
it  sustains  and  plainly  corroborates  the  explana- 
tion of  the  "  rappings  "  now  given  by  Mrs.  Kane 
and  Mrs.  Jencken. 

The  gentlemen  who  made  this  notable  investi- 
gation are  usually  spoken  of  as  the  ''Buffalo 
doctors."  They  were  members  of  the  faculty  of 
the  University  of  Buffalo.  Austin  Flint,  who 
afterward  held  the  highest  medical  rank  in  the 
metropolis,  was  the  most  prominent  of  the  three. 
The  other  two  were  Drs.  Charles  A.  Lee  and  C.  B.^ 
Coventry. 

The  theory  that  they  advanced  was  that  the 
mysterious  noises  were  produced  by  some  one  of 
the  articulations  of  the  body.  Their  assumption 
was  that  it  was  the  great  joint  of  the  knee  which 
produced  them.     Had  they  worked  upon  their 


SPIBITUALISTIC   BOOMERANGS.  133 

theory  alone,  and  left  all  assumption  aside,  until 
actual  evidence  had  led  up  to  them  ;  or,  even  had 
they  investigated  other  joints  of  the  lower  limbs, 
besides  that  of  the  knee,  they  must  have  inevita- 
bly arrived  at  the  correct  conclusion.  Unfortu- 
nately, however,  the  idea  which  so  beset  them  as 
to  render  their  labor  abortive,  arose  from  the 
actual  existence  in  Buffalo  of  a  woman  whose 
knee-joints  could  be  snapped  audibly  at  will. 

The  closeness  of  the  scrutiny  applied  by  these 
gentlemen  displeased  the  eldest  *^  medium,"  and 
her  resentment  finds  characteristic  expression  in 
her  volume,  printed  thirty- seven  years  after  the 
occurrence.  She  declares  that  she  found  Dr.  Lee 
to  be  ^'  a  wily,  deceitful  man." 

K  anything  can  circumvent  cunning,  it  is  cer- 
rtainly  cunning  itself,  and  in  this  sense,  it  is 
entirely  laudable  when  exerted  in  a  proper  cause. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  strategy  had  to  be  used  to 
induce  this  woman,  conscious  of  her  falsity,  and 
schooled  in  subterfuges  and  evasions,  to  submit 
to  a  coldly  scientific  test.     The  challenge,  how- 


134:  BPIRITUALISTIO  BOOMERANGS. 

ever,  came  under  such  circumstances,  public  sus- 
picion being  so  whetted  by  the  fact  that  a  woman 
had  been  discovered  whose  knee-joints  possessed 
the  pecuHar  quahty  of  making  sound,  that  it 
could  not  well  be  avoided,  without  it  becoming 
generally  known  that  the  dechnation  was  a  tacit 
confession  of  fraud. 

The  doctors  pubhshed  very  promptly  the 
result  of  their  preliminary  examination,  which 
was  made  without  any  special  facilities  being 
afforded  them. 

They  said : 

''  Curiosity  having  led  us  to  visit  the  rooms  at 
the  Phelps  House,  in  which  two  females  from 
Eochester,  Mrs.  Fish  and  Miss  Fox,  profess  to 
exhibit  striking  manifestations  from  the  spirit 
world,  by  means  of  which  communion  may  be 
had  with  deceased  friends,  etc.;  and  having 
arrived  at  a  physiological  explanation  of  the 
phenomena,  the  correctness  of  which  has  been 
demonstrated  in  an  instance  which  has  since 
fallen  under  our  observation,  we  have  felt  that  a 


SPnSITIJALISTIC  BOOMERANGS.  135 

public  statement  is  called  for,  which  may,  per- 
haps, serve  to  prevent  a  further  waste  of  time, 
money  and  creduHty  (to  say  nothing  of  sentiment 
and  philosophy)  in  connection  with  this  so  long 
successful  imposition. 

**The  explanation  is  reached  almost  by  a 
logical  necessity,  on  the  application  of  a  method 
of  reasoning  much  resorted  to  in  the  diagnosis  of 
diseases,  namely,  the  reasoning  by  exclusion. 

^'  It  was  reached  by  this  method  prior  to  the 
demonstration  which  has  subsequently  occurred. 

"  It  is  to  be  assumed,  first,  that  the  manifesta- 
tions are  not  to  be  regarded  as  spiritual,  provided 
they^  can  be  physically  or  physiologically 
accounted  for.  Immaterial  agencies  are  not  to 
be  invoked  until  material  agencies  fail.  We  are 
thus  to  exclude  spiritual  causation  in  this  stage  of 
the  investigation. 

"  Next,  it  is  taken  for  granted  that  the  'rap- 
pings  '  are  not  produced  by  artificial  contrivances 
about  the  persons  of  the  females,  which  may  be 
concealed    by    the    dress.      This    hypothesis    is 


136  flPIEITUALISTIO   BOOMERANGS. 

excluded  because  it  is  understood  that  the  females 
have  been  repeatedly  and  carefully  examined  by 
lady  committees. 

"It  is  obvious  that  the  Wrappings'  are  not 
caused  by  machinery  attached  to  tables,  doors, 
etc.,  for  they  are  heard  in  different  rooms,  and  in 
different  parts  of  the  same  room  in  which  the 
females  are  present,  hut  always  near  the  spot 
where  the  females  are  stationed.  This  mechani- 
cal hypothesis  is  then  to  be  excluded.  So  much 
for  the  negative  evidence,  and  now  for  what  posi- 
tively relates  to  the  subject. 

*'  On  carefully  observing  the  countenances  of 
the  two  females  it  is  evident  that  they  involve 
an  effort  of  the  will.  They  evidently  attempted 
to  conceal  any  indications  of  voluntary  effort,  but 
did  not  succeed.  A  voluntary  effort  was  mani- 
fested, and  it  luas  plain  that  it  coidd  not  be  con- 
tinued very  long  without  fatigue.  Assuming, 
then,  this  positive  fact,  the  inquiry  arises,  how 
can  the  will  be  exerted  to  produce  sounds  (*  rap- 
pings  ')  without  obvious  movements  of  the  body  ? 


SPIKITTJALISTIC   BOOMERANGS.  137 

The  voluntary  muscles  themselves  are  the  only 
organs,  save  those  which  belong  to  the  mind 
itself,  over  which  volition  can  exercise  any  direct 
control.  But  contractions  of  the  muscles  do  not, 
in  the  muscles  themselves,  occasion  obvious 
sounds.  The  muscles,  therefore,  to  develop  audi- 
ble vibrations,  must  act  upon  parts  with  which 
they  are  connected.  Now,  it  was  sufficiently  clear 
that  the  *  rappings '  were  not  vocal  sounds  ;  these 
could  not  be  produced  without  movements  of  the 
respiratory  muscles,  which  would  at  once  lead  to 
detection.  Hence,  excluding  vocal  soimds,  the 
only  possible  source  of  the  noises  in  question,  pro- 
duced as  we  have  seen  that  they  must  he,  by  vol 
untary  muscular  contraction,  is  in  one  or  more  of 
the  movable  articulations  of  the  skeleton,  from  the 
anatomical  construction  of  the  voluntary  muscles. 
This  explanation  remains  as  the  only  alternative, 
"By  an  analysis  prosecuted  in  this  manner 
we  arrive  at  the  conviction  that  the  *  rappings,' 
assuming  that  they  are  not  spiritual,  are  produced 
by  the  action  of  the  ivill,  through  voluntary  action 
on  the  joints. 


138  SPIRITUALISTIO  BOOMERANGS. 

"  Various  facts  may  be  cited  to  show  that  the 
motion  of  the  joints,  under  certain  circumstances, 
is  adequate  to  produce  the  phenomena  of  the 
'rappings.'  *  *  *  By  a  curious  coincidence, 
after  arriving  at  the  above  conclusion  respecting 
the  source  of  the  sounds,  an  instance  has  fallen 
under  our  observation,  which  demoyistrates  the 
fact  that  noises  precisely  identical  with  the  spir- 
itual '  rappings '  may  be  produced  in  the  knee- 
joints.^^ 

The  doctors  then  describe  how  the  sounds 
may  be  produced  in  certain  subjects  by  the  par- 
tial dislocation  of  the  knee  joint ;  and  they  add  : 

**The  visible  vibrations  of  articles  in  the  room, 
situated  near  the  operator,  occur  if  the  limb,  or 
any  portion  of  the  body,  is  in  contact  with  them 
at  the  time  the  sounds  are  produced.  The  force 
of  the  semi-dislocation  of  the  bo7ie  is  sufficient  to 
occasion  distinct  jarring  of  the  doors,  tables,  etcy 
if  in  contact.  The  intensity  of  the  sound  may 
be  varied  in  proportion  to  the  force  of  the  muscu- 
lar contractions,  and  this  will  render  the  appar- 
ent source  of  the  '  rappings  '  more  or  less  distinct." 


SPmiTDALISTIC   BOOMERANGS.  139 

I  have  italicized  the  portions  of  these  extracts 
which  apply  in  a  measure  to  the  action  of  the 
toe-joints,  as  well  as  to  that  of  the  knee.  No 
especial  comraent  upon  them  is  needed.  The 
reader  may  easily  comprehend  the  relation  of 
these  pecuUar  facts. 

Knowing,  from  this  brief  of  their  supposed 
case,  exactly  what  she  had  to  apprehend  from 
them,  and  anxious  to  prove  triumphantly  that  she 
and  her  sisters  did  not  make  the  ''  rappings  "  with 
their  knees,  Mrs.  Fish  rushed  into  print,  and  chal- 
lenged the  doctors  to  a  more  public  investigation, 
to  be  made  by  three  men  and  three  women,  the 
latter  of  whom  were  to  disrobe  the  '^  mediums,"  if 
they  so  desired.     The  doctors,  of  course,  accepted. 

In  her  account  of  this  scene,  Mrs.  Fish  speaks 
of  herself  and  her  sister  Maggie  as  ^'two  young 
creatures  thus  baited  as  it  were  by  cruel  enemies." 
It  should  be  remembered  at  this  point  that  her 
age  at  that  time  was  about  thirty-four  years, 
whilst  that  of  Maggie  was  only  eleven !  So  much 
for  the  disino-enuousness  of  the  narrator. 


140  SPIRITUALISTIO  BOOMERANGS. 

She  herself  says  that  during  the  test,  Maggie 
and  she  sat  on  a  sofa  together  a  long  time  and  no 
raps  came.  The  watch  was  too  close.  Then  a 
zealous  and  indiscreet  friend  rapped  on  the  back 
of  her  chair,  and  to  shield  herself  from  seeming 
complicity,  she  rebuked  him  with  great  ostenta- 
tion. How  kindly  she  felt  toward  fraud,  how- 
ever, is  shown  by  the  excuses  which  she  makes 
for  his  conduct. 

*^It  was  certainly  a  severe  and  cruel  ordeal  for 
us,"  she  goes  on,  *^as  we  sat  there  under  that 
accusation,  surrounded  by  all  these  men,  authori- 
ties, some  of  them  persecutors,  while  the  raps, 
usually  so  ready  and  familiar,  would  not  come  to 
our  relief.  Some  few  and  faint  ones  did  indeed 
come — some  nine  or  ten.  The  doctors  say  in  their 
account  that  it  was  while  they  intermitted  the  hold- 
ing of  our  feet.  Such  was  not  my  impression, 
but  /attach  small  importance  to  that." 

There  were  several  sittings  of  the  investi- 
gators in  company  with  the  *' mediums,"  and 
Mrs.   Underliill    asserts  that  at  times    plentiful 


SPIRITUALISTIC   BOOMERANGS .  141 

"rappings"  were  heard,  both  when  their  feet  and 
knees  were  held  and  when  they  were  not  held. 
And  then  she  introduces  this  weak  and  trans- 
parent piece  of  hypocrisy  so  familiar  to  those  who 
have  ever  had  to  do  with  so-called  '^mediums": 

*'We  are  now  famihar  with  the  fact  that 
spirits  often  refuse  to  act  in  the  presence  of  those 
who  bring  to  the  occasion,  not  a  candid  and  fair 
spirit  of  inquiry  for  the  satisfaction  of  an  honest 
skepticism,  but  a  bitter  and  offensive  bigotry  of 
prejudice  and  invincible  hostility,  which  does  not 
really  seek,  but  rather  repels  the  truth,  and  but 
little  desei-ves  the  favor  of  its  exhibition  to  them 
by  the  spirits." 

The  further  report  of  the  doctors  contained 
these  points  : 

*'TOe  two  females  were  seated  upon  two  chairs 
placed  near  together,  their  heels  resting  on  cush- 
ions, their  lower  limbs  extended,  ivith  the  toes  ele- 
vated and  the  feet  separated  from  each  other. 
The  object  of  this  experiment  was  to  secure  a 
position  in  which  the  hgaments  of  the  knee-joint 


142  SPIRITUALI8TI0   BOOMERANGS. 

should  be  made  tense,  and  no  opportunity  offered 
to  make  a  pressure  with  the  foot.  We  were 
pretty  well  satisfied  that  the  displacement  of  the 
hones  requisite  for  the  sounds  could  not  he 
effected,  unless  a  fulcrum  were  ohtained  by  resting 
one  foot  upon  the  other,  or  on  some  resisting  hody. 
The  company  waited  half  an  hour,  hut  no  sounds 
were  heard  in  this  position. 

^^The  position  of  the  ^ow^g^er  sister  was  then 
changed  to  a  sitting  posture,  with  the  lower  hmbs 
extended  on  the  sofa,  the  elder  sister  sitting  in 
the  customary  way,  at  the  other  extremity  of  the 
sofa.  The  '  Spirits '  did  not  choose  to  signify  their 
presence  under  these  circumstances,  although 
repeatedly  requested  to  do  so.  The  latter  experi- 
ment went  to  confirm  the  belief  that  the  younger 
sister  alone  produced  the  Wrappings.'  These 
experiments  were  continued  until  the  females 
themselves  admitted  that  it  was  useless  to  con- 
tinue any  longer  at  that  time,  with  any  expecta- 
tion of  manifestations  being  made. 

'^  In  resuming  the  usual  position  on  the  sofa, 


SPIRITUALISTIC  BOOMERANGS.  143 

the  feet  resting  on  the  floor,  the  knockings  soon 
began  to  be  heardJ^ 

Then  the  doctors  held  the  knees  of  the  fair 
performers  to  ascertain  if  there  was  any  move- 
ment when  the  sounds  were  heard : 

^' The  hands  were  kept  in  apposition  for  sev- 
eral minutes  at  a  time,  and  the  experiments 
repeated  frequently,  for  the  space  of  half  an  hour 
and  more,  with  negative  results ;  that  is  to  say, 
there  were  plenty  of  '  raps '  ivhen  the  knees  were 
7iot  held,  and  none  luhen  the  hands  were  applied, 
save  once;  as  the  pressure  ivas  intentionally 
relaxed  {Dr.  Lee  being  the  holder)  two  or  three 
faint  single  ^raps^  tuere  heard,  and  Dr.  Lee 
immediately  averred  that  the  motion  of  the  bone 
was  plainly  perceptible  to  him.  The  experiment 
of  siezing  the  knees  as  quickly  as  possible,  when 
the  knockings  first  commenced,  was  tried  several 
times,  but  always  with  the  effect  of  putting  an 
immediate  quietus  upon  the  demonstrations.^^ 

No  sensible  person  can  doubt  that  the  state- 
ments of  facts  within  their  actual  knowledge, 


144  SPIRITUALISTIC   BOOMERANGS. 

made  by  these  three    eminent    physicians,   are 
absolutely  true.     They  say  finally  : 

"  Had  our  experiments,  which  were  first 
directed  to  this  joint  failed,  we  should  have  pro- 
ceeded to  interrogate,  experimentally,  other  artic- 
ulations. But  the  conclusions  seemed  clear  that 
the  '  Rochester  knockings '  emanate  from  the  knee- 
joint.^^ 

What  a  pity  they  did  not  '^  interrogate  "  other 
articulations  ! 

The  report,  erroneous  as  it  was  in  its  conclu- 
sions, contained  so  much  significent  truth  that 
Mrs.  Fish  was  at  first  staggered  by  its  purport. 
But  in  March,  1851,  she  wrote  again  to  the  prees 
a  lengthy  letter,  in  which  she  feebly  attempted  to 
counteract  the  effect  of  the  doctor's  opinion,  and 
incidentally  made  some  grave  admissions.  Kefer- 
ring  to  the  fact  that  whenever  the  *' mediums" 
were  kept  in  constrained  positions  there  were  no 
'*  manifestations,"  she  made  this  remarkable 
admission  : 

^'  It  is  true  that  when  our  feet  loere  placed  on 


SPIRITUALISTIC   BOOMERANGS.  146 

cushions  stuffed  with  shavings,  and  resting  on  our 
heels,  there  were  no  sounds  heard,  and  that  sounds 
were  heard  ivhen  our  feet  luere  resting  on  the 
floor ;  and  it  is  just  as  true  that  if  our  friendly 
spirits  retired  when  they  witnessed  such  harsh 
proceedings  on  the  part  of  our  persecutors,  it  was 
not  in  our  power  to  detain  them." 

Then  she  remarks  that  certain  things  happened 
after  the  medical  gentlemen  left : 

'*Our  feet  were  held  from  the  floor  by  Dr. 
Gray  and  Mr.  Clark,  in  presence  of  the  whole 
committee,  on  the  evening  of  the  investigation 
made  by  the  medical  gentlemen  (after  they  left) ; 
and  the  sounds  were  distinctly  heard,  which  was 
allowed  by  the  committee  to  be  a  far  more  satis- 
factory test,  as  they  could  distinctly  hear  the 
soimds  under  the  feet,  and  feel  the  floor  jar  while 
our  feet  were  held  nearly  or  quite  a  foot  from  the 
floor." 

About  this  time,  a  suspicion  that  the  *^raps" 
were  made  by  use  of  the  toes,  first  found  expres- 
sion, but  it  never  seems  to  have  been  followed 


146  SPpRITUALISTIC   BOOMERANGS. 

up  to  the  point  of  verification.  Indeed,  the  secret 
seems  to  have  been  kept  absolutely  for  forty 
years,  and  was  only  revealed  by  the  lips  of  Mrs. 
Margaret  Fox  Kane. 

I  cannot  refrain  from  quoting  in  this  place  an 
incident  from  the  record  of  the  common  enemy, 
which  further  illustrates  the  imbecile  audacity 
with  which  they  parade  their  abominable  fraud 
before  the  eyes  of  sensible  persons.  At  a  seance, 
in  which  wonderous  things  were  done  under  a 
table,  around  which  the  company  including  Mrs. 
Fish  and  one  of  her  sisters  were  closely  seated, 
one,  Mr.  Stringham,  apparently  a  doubter, 
asked : 

'^May  I  leave  the  table  while  the  others 
remain,  that  I  may  look  and  see  the  bells  ring- 
ing r 

The  '^  spirits  "  answered  : 

'^What  do  you  think  we  require  you  to  sit 
close  to  the  table  for  ?" 

And  the  veracious  writer  adds  : 

*^  Whe7i  spirits  make  these  physical  demonstra- 


SPIRITUALISTIC   BOOMERANGS.  147 

tions^  they  are  compelled  to  assume  shapes  that 
human  eyes  must  not  look  upon,'^ 

!        !        !        !        !         !         !        !        ! 

I  should  be  guilty  of  an  historical  omission  did 
I  not  also  notice  a  somewhat  formal  investiga- 
tion made  by  a  committee  of  Harvard  Professors 
and  others,  appointed  to  satisfy  the  exigencies  of 
a  newspaper  controversy  in  Boston  in  1857,  and 
which  Mrs.  Ann  Leah  Fox  Brown  and  Miss 
Catherine  Fox  attended.  The  results  were  wholly 
unsatisfactory  and  inconclusive  from  a  scientific 
standpoint,  though  the  moral  effect  of  this  out- 
come was  strongly  against  the  spiritualists,  who 
were,  of  course,  bound  to  prove  their  positive  side 
of  the  case,  and  failed  ignominiously  to  do  so. 
The  committee  consisted  of  Professors  Agassiz, 
Pierce  and  Horsford,  Mr.  George  Lunt,  editor  of 
the  Boston  Courier,  Dr.  A.  B.  Gould,  Mr.  Allen 
Putnam,  Dr.  H.  P.  Gardner  and  Mr.  G.  W.  Eains. 
The  last  three  were  pronounced  spiritualists. 

Professor    Agassiz,  who    in   particular   had 


148  BPIRITUALISTIC   BOOMERANGS. 

studied  mesmerism  and  so-called  clairvoyance 
most  carefully,  and  who  believed  to  some  extent 
in  the  former,  declared  with  emphasis  that  there 
was  an  easy  physiological  explanation  of  all  the 
effects  that  the  ^^Fox  Sisters,"  or  any  other  ^^ rap- 
pers," produced.  The  raps  caused  by  the  ^^Fox 
Sisters"  on  this  occasion  were  but  feeble  and 
uncertain.  When  other  ^^  mediums  "  were  under 
examination,  the  close  watch  kept  upon  them  by 
the  learned  investigators  seemed  greatly  to  dis- 
concert them  and  prevented  the  possibility  of  any 
pronounced  ^^manifestations"  taking  place. 

The  Courier  had  issued  a  challenge  offering 
five  hundred  dollars  to  any  one  who  would 
'' communicate  a  single  word  imparted  to  the 
'  spirits,'  "  by  its  editor  '^  in  an  adjoining  room," 
who  would  ^^read  a  single  word  in  English, 
written  inside  a  book  or  sheet  of  paper  folded  in 
such  a  manner  as  we  may  suggest ;  who  would 
answer  with  the  aid  of  all  the  higher  intelligences 
he  or  she  can  invoke  from  the  other  w^orld,  three 
questions    *    *    *    ;"  and  it  added  : 


SPmmjALISTIO  BOOMEEANGS.  149 

^^  And  we  will  not  require  Dr.  Gardiner  or  the 
'mediums'  to  risk  a  single  cent  on  the  experi- 
ment. If  one  or  all  of  them  can  do  one  of  these 
things,  the  five  hundred  dollars  shall  be  paid  on 
the  spot.  If  they  fail,  they  shall  pay  nothing ; 
not  even  the  expense  incident  to  trying  the  experi- 
ment." 

The  Committee  made  a  report  which  declared 
that  nothing  had  been  done  which  entitled  any 
one  to  receive  the  sum  offered  by  the  Courier. 
Therefore  no  award  was  made. 

A  hbrary  might  be  written  containing  only 
accounts  of  private  investigations  of  ^'spiritual 
phenomena  "  by  able  and  scientific  observers,  all 
of  which  conduced  to  but  one  verdict,  that  every 
pretense  of  Spiritualism  is  a  fraud.  I  deem  it 
more  appropriate,  however,  and  entirely  adequate 
to  my  purpose,  to  restrict  my  citations  from  such 
inquiries  to  those  which  had  an  absolutely  unde- 
niable of&cial  or  authoritative  character. 


160  THE  SDPEEME  AlIDAOITY  OB"  FEAUD. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  SUPREME  AUDACITY  OF  FRAUD. 

The  multitude  of  forms  that  a  certain  kind  of 
deception,  when  once  it  obtains  a  foothold  in  the 
public  mind,  will  assume,  is  often  wonderful. 

Spirituahsm  has  resorted  to  all  the  trickery 
that  for  ages  has  been  used  to  delude  and  delight 
the  populace. 

Much  of  it  could  be  traced  back  to  the  very 
first  mountebanks  who  wandered  about  the 
streets  of  the  ancient  cities,  or  squatted  at  the 
gates  of  palaces  or  in  market-places  to  catch  the 
frequent  obolus  from  the  curious  passer-by. 

In  every  country  under  the  sun,  the  trade  of 
deception  has  been  turned  to  the  account  of 
religious  superstition.  The  Hindus,  in  par- 
ticular, excel  in  this  branch  of  necromancy.     The 


THE  SUPREME  AUDACITY  OF  FRAUD.  151 

marvelous  things  that  Aaron  and  the  Egyptian 
sorcerers  did  before  Pharaoh,  are  really  as  nothing 
compared  with  what  the  modern  jugglers  of  India 
and  China  perform.  All  of  the  developments  of 
the  art  that  have  taken  place  in  the  West,  seem 
but  trivial  imitation  beside  these,  and  indeed  they 
are  little  better. 

No  sooner  had  Spirituahsm  made  many  prose- 
lytes, than  there  was  no  limit  to  its  audacious 
pretensions.  Its  apostles  imagined  that  they 
could  go  on  duping  the  world  and  even  hood- 
winking the  scientists,  and  that  by  appeahng  to 
the  Federal  government  for  a  formal  investigation 
of  its  claims,  which  they  could  not  have  believed 
for  a  moment  would  be  granted,  they  could 
obtain  a  sort  of  quasi-official  recognition  of  their 
so-called  new  religion. 

Accordingly,  on  the  l7th  of  April,  1854,  a 
petition  was  sent  to  Congress,  bearing  fifteen 
thousand  names,  and  was  presented  in  executive 
session  b}?-  Senator  Shields  of  Illinois.  As  a 
rather  skillful  contemporaneous  characterization 


152  THE  SUPREME  ATTDAClTY  OF  FEAtTD. 

of  the  matter,  what  he  said  on  this  occasion  is  of 
historical  interest.  The  following  were  his 
words : 

I  beg  leave  to  present  to  the  Senate  a  petition,  with 
some  fifteeu  thousand  names  appended  to  it,  upon  a  very 
singular  and  novel  subject.  The  petitioners  declare  that 
certain  physical  and  mental  phenomena  of  mysterious 
import,  have  become  so  prevalent  in  this  country  and 
Europe,  as  to  engross  a  large  share  of  public  attention. 
A  partial  analysis  of  these  phenomena  attest  the  exist- 
ence, first,  of  an  occult  force  which  is  exhibited  in 
sliding,  raising,  arresting,  holding,  suspending,  and 
otherwise  disturbing  ponderable  bodies,  apparently  in 
direct  opposition  to  the  acknowledged  laws  of  matter, 
and  transcending  the  accredited  power  of  the  human 
mind.  Secondly,  lights  of  different  degrees  of  intensity 
appear  in  dark  rooms,  where  chemical  action  or  phos- 
phorescent illumination  cannot  be  developed,  and  where 
there  arc  no  means  of  generating  electricity,  or  of 
producing  combustion.  Thirdly,  a  variety  of  sounds, 
frequent  in  occurrence,  and  diversified  in  character,  and 
of  singular  significance  and  importance,  consisting  of 
mysterious  rapping,  indicating  the  presence  of  invisible 
intelligence.  Sounds  arc  often  heard  like  those  pro- 
duced by  the  prosecution  of  mechanical  operations,  like 


tSE  SUPRE^TE  AUDACirr  OF  FEAUD.       153 

the  hoarse  murmer  of  the  winds  and  waves,  mingled  with 
the  harsh  creaking  of  the  masts  and  rigging  of  a  ship 
laboring  in  a  sea.  Concussions  also  occur,  resembling 
distant  thunder,  producing  oscillatory  movementi  of 
surrounding  objects,  and  a  tremulous  motion  of  the 
premises  upon  which  these  phenomena  occur.  Harmo- 
nious sounds,  as  those  of  human  voices,  and  other  sounds 
resembling  those  of  the  fife,  drum,  trumpet,  etc.,  have 
been  produced  without  any  visible  agency.  Fourthly,  all 
the  functions  of  the  human  body  and  mind  are  influenced 
in  what  appear  to  be  certain  abnormal  states  of  the  system, 
by  causes  not  yet  adequately  understood  or  accounted  for. 
The  occult  force,  or  invisible  power,  frequently  interrupts 
the  normal  operations  of  the  faculties,  suspending  sensa- 
tion and  voluntary  motion  of  the  body  to  a  death-like 
coldness  and  rigidity,  and  diseases  hitherto  considered 
incurable,  have  been  entirely  eradicated  by  this  mysterious 
agency.  The  petitioners  proceed  to  state  that  two 
opinions  prevail  with  respect  to  the  origin  of  these  phe- 
nomena. One  ascribes  them  to  the  power  and  intelligence 
of  departed  spirits  operating  upon  the  elements  which 
pervade  all  natural  forms.  The  other  rejects  this  con- 
clusion, and  contends  that  all  these  results  may  be 
accounted  for  in  a  rational  and  satisfactory  manner. 

The  memorialists,  while  thus  disagreeing  as  to  the 
cause,  concur  in  the  opinion  as  to  the  occurrence  of  the 
7* 


164  THE  SUPREME   AUDAOITY    OF  FRAUD. 

alleged  phenomena  ;  and  in  yiew  of  their  origin,  nature 
and  bearing  upon  the  interests  of  mankind,  demand  for 
them  a  patient,  rigid,  scientific  investigation,  and  request 
the  appointment  of  a  scientific  commission  for  that  pur- 
pose. 

I  have  now  given  a  faithful  synopsis  of  this  petition, 
which,  however  unprecedented  in  itself,  has  been  pre- 
pared with  singular  ability,  presenting  the  subject  with 
great  delicacy  and  moderation.  I  make  it  a  rule  to  pre- 
sent any  petition  to  the  Senate,  which  is  respectful  in  its 
terms  ;  but  having  discharged  this  duty,  I  may  be  per- 
mitted to  say  that  the  prevalence  of  this  delusion  at  this 
age  of  the  world,  among  any  considerable  portion  of  our 
citizens,  must  originate,  in  my  opinion,  in  a  defective 
system  of  education,  or  in  a  partial  derangement  of  the 
mental  faculties,  produced  by  a  diseased  condition  of  the 
physical  organization.  I  cannot,  therefore,  believe  that 
it  prevails  to  the  extent  indicated  in  this  petition. 

Different  ages  of  the  world  have  had  their  peculiar 
delusions.  Alchemy  occupied  the  attention  of  eminent 
men  for  several  centuries  ;  but  there  was  something  sub- 
lime in  alchemy.  The  philosopher's  stone,  or  the  trans- 
mutation of  base  metals  into  gold,  the  elixir  vifcB,  or 
*  water  of  life,'  which  would  preserve  youth  and  beauty, 
and  prevent  old  age,  decay  and  death,  were  blessings 
which  poor    humanity    ardently    desired,    and    which 


THE   SUPREME  AUDACITY   OF   FRAUD.  155 

alchemy  sought  to  discover  by  perseverance  and  piety, 
Koger  Bacon,  one  of  the  greatests  alchemists  and  greatest 
men  of  the  thirteenth  century,  while  searching  for  the 
philosopher's  stone,  discovered  the  telescope,  burning 
glasses,  and  gunpowder.  The  prosecution  of  that  delu- 
sion led,  therefore,  to  a  number  of  useful  discoveries.  In 
the  sixteenth  century  flourished  Cornelius  Agrippa, 
alchemist,  astrologer,  and  magician,  one  of  the  greatest 
professors  of  hermetic  philosophy  that  ever  lived.  He 
had  all  the  spirits  of  the  air  and  demons  of  the  earth 
under  his  command.  Paulus  Jovious  says  that  the  devil, 
in  the  shape  of  a  large  black  dog,  attended  Agrippa 
wherever  he  went.  Thomas  Nash  says,  at  the  request  of 
Lord  Surrey,  Erasmus,  and  other  learned  men,  Agrippa 
called  up  from  the  grave  several  of  the  great  philosophers 
of  antiquity,  among  others.  Sully,  whom  he  caused  to 
deliver  his  celebrated  oration  for  Eoscius,  to  please  the 
emperor,  Charles  IV.  He  summoned  David  and  King 
Solomon  from  the  tomb,  and  the  Emperor  conversed  with 
them  long  upon  the  science  of  government.  This  was  a 
glorious  exhibition  of  spiritual  power,  compared  with  the 
insignificant  manifestations  of  the  present  day.  I  will 
pass  over  the  celebrated  Paracelsus,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  allusion  to  an  Englishman,  with  whose  veracious 
history  every  one  ought  to  make  himself  acquainted.  In 
the  sixteenth  century,  Dr.  Dee  made  such  progress  in  the 


156  TEE  SUPREME   AtJDACITY   OF  FRAUD. 

talismanic  mysteries,  that  he  acquired  ample  power  to 
hold  familiar  conversation  with  spirits  and  angels,  and 
to  learn  from  them  all  the  secrets  of  the  universe.  On 
the  occasion,  the  angel  Uriel  gave  him  a  black  crystal  of 
a  convex  form,  which  he  had  only  to  gaze  upon  intently, 
and  by  a  strange  effort  of  the  will,  he  could  summon  any 
spirit  he  wished,  to  reveal  to  him  the  secrets  of  futurity. 
Dee,  in  his  veracious  diary,  says  that  one  day  while  he 
was  sitting  with  Alburtus  Laski,  a  Polish  nobleman, 
there  seemed  to  come  out  of  the  oratory  a  spiritual  crea- 
ture, like  a  pretty  girl  of  seven  or  nine  years  of  age,  with 
her  hair  rolled  up  before  and  hanging  down  behind, 
with  a  gown  of  silk,  of  changeable  red  and  green,  and 
with  a  train.  She  seemed  to  play  up  and  down,  and  to 
go  in  and  out  behind  the  books,  and  as  she  seemed  to  get 
between  them,  the  books  displaced  themselves  and  made 
way  for  her.  This  I  call  a  spiritual  manifestation  of  tlie 
most  interesting  and  fascinating  kind.  Even  the  books 
felt  the  fascinating  influence  of  this  spiritual  creature  ; 
for  they  displaced  themselves  and  made  way  for  her. 
Edward  Kelly,  an  Irishman,  who  was  present,  and  who 
witnessed  this  beautiful  apparition,  verifies  the  doctor^s 
statement ;  therefore  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  doubt 
a  story  so  well  attested,  particularly  when  the  witness  was 
an  Irishman.  Dr.  D.  was  the  distinguished  favorite  of 
kings  and  queens,  a  proof  that  si)iritual  science  was  in 


THE   SUPREME   AUDACITY   OF   FRAUD.  157 

high  repute  in  the  good  old  age  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 
But  of  all  the  professors  of  occult  science,  hermetic  phil- 
osophy or  Spiritualism,  the  Rosicrucians  were  the  most 
exalted  and  refined.  With  them  the  possession  of  the 
philosopher's  stone  was  to  be  the  means  of  health  and 
happiness,  an  instrument  by  which  man  could  command 
the  services  of  superior  beings,  control  the  elements,  defy 
the  abstractions  of  time  and  space,  and  acquire  the  most 
intimate  knowledge  of  all  the  secrets  of  the  universe. 
These  were  objects  worth  struggling  for.  The  refined 
Rosicrucians  were  utterly  disgusted  with  the  coarse, 
gross,  sensual  spirits  who  had  been  in  communication 
with  man  previous  to  their  day ;  so  they  decreed  the 
annihilation  of  them  all,  and  substituted  in  their  stead, 
a  race  of  mild,  beautiful  and  beneficent  beings. 

The  '' spirits''  of  the  olden  time  were  a  malignant 
race,  and  took  especial  delight  in  doing  mischief ;  but 
the  new  generation  is  mild  and  benignant.  These 
''  spirits,"  as  this  petition  attests,  indulge  in  the  most 
innocent  amusements  and  harmless  recreations,  such  as 
sliding,  raising  and  tipping  tables,  producing  pleasing 
sounds  and  variegated  sights,  and  sometimes  curing 
diseases  which  were  previously  considered  incurable  ; 
and  for  the  existence  of  this  simple  and  benignant  race 
our  petitioners  are  indebted  to  the  brethren  of  the  rosy 
cross.    Among  the  modern  professors  of  Spiritualism, 


158  THE   SUPREME    AUDACITY    OF    FRAUD. 

Cagliostro  was  the  most  justly  celebrated.  In  Paris,  his 
saloons  were  thronged  with  the  rich  and  noble.  To  old 
ladies  he  sold  immortality,  and  to  the  young  ones  he 
sold  beauty  that  would  endure  for  centuries,  and  his 
charming  countess  gained  immense  wealth,  by  granting 
attendant  sylphs  to  such  ladies  as  were  rich  enough  to 
pay  for  their  services.  The  ''  Biogi-aphies  des  Contem- 
porains,"  a  work  which  our  present  mediums  ought  to 
consult  with  care,  says  there  was  hardly  a  fine  lady  in 
Paris  who  would  not  sup  with  the  shade  of  Lucretius  in 
the  apartments  of  Cagliostro.  There  was  not  a  military 
officer  who  would  not  discuss  the  art  with  Alexander, 
Hannibal  or  Caesar,  or  an  advocate  or  counselor  who 
would  not  argue  legal  points  with  the  ghost  of  Cicero. 
These  were  spiritual  manifestations  worth  paying  for, 
and  all  our  degenerate  "  mediums  '^  would  have  to  hide 
their  diminished  heads  in  the  presence  of  Cagliostro. 

It  would  be  a  curious  inquiry  to  follow  this  occult 
science  through  all  its  phases  of  mineral  magnetism, 
animal  mesmerism,  etc.,  until  we  reach  the  present, 
latest  and  slowest  phase  of  all  spiritualmanifestation  ;  but 
I  have  said  enough  to  show  the  truth  of  Burk's  beautiful 
aphorism,  '^  The  credulity  of  dupes  is  as  inexhaustible  us 
the  invention  of  knaves." 

A  writer  of  that  time  says : 


THE    SUPREJrE    AUDACITX"   OF   FRAUD.  159 

"  A  pleasant  debate  followed.  Mr.  Petit  pro- 
posed to  refer  the  petition  of  the  Spiritualists  to 
three  thousand  clergymen.  Mr.  Weller  proposed 
to  refer  it  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Eelations, 
as  it  might  be  necessary  to  inquire  whether  or  not 
when  Americans  leave  this  world  they  lose  their 
citizenship.  Mr.  Mason  proposed  that  it  should 
be  left  to  the  Committee  on  Military  affairs. 
General  Shields  himself  said  he  had  thought  of 
proposing  to  refer  the  petition  to  the  Committee 
on  Post  Offices  and  Post  Eoads,  because  there 
may  be  a  possibihty  of  estabUshing  a  spiritual 
telegraph  between  the  material  and  spiritual 
worlds.  The  petition  was  finally,  by  a  decisive 
vote,  laid  upon  the  table.  The  table  did  not,  as 
we  learn,  tip  in  indignation  at  this  summary  dis- 
posal of  Spiritualism  in  the  Senate,  by  which  we 
must  infer  that  the  'spirits,' if  there  were  any 
in  the  Senate  at  that  time,  endorsed  its  action  and 
considered  the  same  all  right." 

I  might  here  enter  into  a  description  of  the 
various  forms  of  modern  spiritualistic  representa- 


16C  THE   SUPREME   AUDACITY   OF   FRAUD. 

tions.  It  would  be  a  waste  of  time.  I  wish, 
however,  to  allude  more  particularly  just  here  to 
one  of  the  '^evidences"  which  Mrs.  Ann  Leah 
Underhill  apparently  values  most  highly  in  con- 
nection with  the  claim  of  inherent  and  herditary 
*'  mediumistic  "  powers  residing  in  certain  individ- 
uals and  families.  This  is  the  somewhat  noted 
so-called  exhibition  of  '^ mediumistic "  abihty 
by  a  child  of  Mrs.  Kate  Fox  Jencken,  a  babe, 
only  about  six  weeks  old  at  the  time  that  it 
began.  It  is  needless  to  go  into  all  the  details  of 
the  wonders  attributed  to  little  '^  Ferdie"  Jencken, 
now  a  fine  lad  of  fifteen,  which  rest  wholly  upon 
the  testimony  of  persons  who  were  interested  in 
magnifying  them  to  the  greatest  extent.  Shad- 
owy forms  are  said  to  have  appeared  to  his  nurse 
while  she  was  watching  him.  At  three  months 
he  was  said  to  have  articulated  ^ ^Mammal" 
But  the  cap  of  the  climax  is  the  feat  he  is  said  to 
have  performed  when  not  six  months  old.  As  he 
was  restless  one  day,  his  mother  gave  him  a  piece 
of  blotting  paper  and  a  pencil  to  play  with.     He 


THE   STJPREME   AUDACITY   OF   FRAUD.  161 

made  some  marks  on  the  paper  and  dropped  it. 

When  his  mother  picked  it  up  she  exclaimed  to 

Mrs.  Underhill,  the  only  other  person  present : 
'*See  here,  he  was  widtten  something." 
It  is  pretended  that  on  one  side  of  the  blotting 

paper  was  the  message  : 

"  Grandma  is  here. 

"Boysie/^ 

Later  and  up  to  the  close  of  his  first  year,  he 
was  said  to  write  other  messages,  but  all  under 
like  circumstances. 

Mrs.  Underhill  lays  great  stress  upon  these 
'^ manifestations"  in  two  portions  of  her  work. 

The  simple  and  only  comment  to  be  made  upon 
them  is,  that  Mrs.  Catherine  Fox  Jencken  now  de- 
clares that  they  were  fraudulent.  The  messages 
were  in  every  case  written  upon  the  paper  before  it 
was  placed  in  the  baby's  hands,  the  mother  know- 
ing, of  course,  that  a  child  a  few  months  old  would 
not  retain  anything  very  long  in  its  grasp,  that 
those  who  chanced  to  be  present  would  not  observe, 


162  THE   SUPREME    AUDACITY    OF    FRAUD. 

unless  previously  warned,  whether  it  was  wholly 
blank  or  not,  and  that  the  picking  up  of  the  paper 
from  the  floor  would  give  ample  opportunity  to 
turn  undermost  the  side  on  which  the  child  may 
have  really  scratched  some  unmeaning  marks. 

So  much  for  that  and  kindred  marvels  of 
infant '^mediumship." 

'^Ferdie"  Jencken,  so  far  as  is  known,  has 
never,  since  that  early  period  of  his  existence,  ex- 
hibited any  ^^mediumistic  power." 

The  character  of  the  communications  purport- 
ing to  come  from  the  '^ spirit-land"  has  always 
been  such  as  to  condemn  them,  even  if  nothing  else 
would,  in  the  mind  of  any  one  gifted  with  a  clear 
judgment.  How  many  have  read  with  a  bitter 
sneer  those  pretended  words  from  *^the  great  ones 
of  the  earth,"  which  would  place  them,  if  they  had 
really  written  or  uttered  them  in  the  unseen  life, 
on  a  mere  level  with  the  emptiest-headed  mortals 
vthom  we  know  in  this  ! 

'^  Alas  !"  exclaims  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  in 
^^The    Blythedale     IV>mance,"     ^^mcthinks    we 


THE    SUPREME   ArDACITY    OF   FRAUD.  ICo 

have  fallen  ou  au  evil  age  !  If  these  phenomena 
have  not  humbug  at  the  bottom,  so  much  the 
worse  for  us.  What  can  they  indicate  in  a 
spiritual  way,  except  that  the  soul  of  man  is 
descending  to  a  lower  point  that  it  has  ever 
reached  while  incarnate?  We  are  pursuing  a 
downward  course  in  the  eternal  march,  and  thus 
bring  ourselves  into  the  same  range  with  beings 
whom  death — in  requital  of  their  gross  and  evil 
hves— has  degraded  below  humanity.  To  hold 
intercourse  with  spirits  of  this  order,  we  must 
stoop  and  grovel  in  some  elements  more  vile  than 
earthly  dust.  These  gobhns,  if  they  exist  at  all, 
are  but  the  shadows  of  past  mortality— mere 
refuse  stuff,  adjudged  unworthy  of  the  eternal 
world,  and  as  the  most  favorable  supposition, 
dwindling  gradually  into  nothingness.  The  less 
we  have  to  say  to  them,  the  better,  lest  we  share 
their  fate." 


164:  A  SCIENTIFIC  JURY. 


OHAPTEK  XII. 


A  SCIENTIFIC  JURY. 


At  one  period  of  her  strange  career,  Mrs. 
Kane  entered  the  service  of  Mr.  Henry  Seybert, 
the  famous  and  wealthy  spirituahst  of  Philadel- 
phia, who  proposed  to  found  what  he  called  a 
'* Spiritual  Mansion." 

Mrs.  Kane's  salary  and  appointments  were 
hberal,  and  her  situation  was  one  which  would 
have  met  the  fondest  wishes  of  many  noted  and 
ambitious  ^'  mediums."  She  was  the  high  priest- 
ess of  this  new  temple  of  the  unseen  entities,  and 
as  such  she  was  honored  and  treated  with  most 
exalted  respect. 

The  conditions  of  the  *^  Spiritual  Mansion" 
were  in  all  respects  favorable  to  the  intercourse 


A   SCIENTIFIC  JURY.  165 

of  dwellers  in  the  flesh  with  those  who  inhabit 
the  realm  of  shadows,  if  such  there  had  been. 

The  taking  up  of  her  abode  in  this  singular 
institution  was  one  of  her  earliest  steps,  after  the 
throwing  off  of  her  deep  weeds  of  mourning, 
worn  in  memory  of  the  untimely  termination  of 
her  dream  of  happiness.  It  w^as  then  that  she 
found  that  the  professional  life  of  a  ^'medium" 
was  the  only  refuge  left  her  from  the  cruel  pur- 
suit of  poverty  and  want. 

But  her  stay  in  the  ^^  Spiritual  Mansion  "  was 
short.  She  had  thought  that  the  quiet  existence 
afforded  her  there  would  be  preferable  to  the 
daily  and  distasteful  practice  of  public  ''  medium- 
ship,"  which  she  must  have  resorted  to  at  once, 
had  she  not  accepted  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Sey- 
bert.  But  the  hypocrisy  unconsciously  required 
of  her  by  him,  while  of  a  more  fantastic  descrip- 
tion, was  altogether  too  much  for  her  to  endure. 
Her  intense  hatred  of  her  profession  as  a 
*' medium"  appeared  in  a  strong  hght  to  those 
who  were  then  in  her  confidence. 


166  A  SCIENTIFIC  JtTEY. 

Mrs.  Kane,  at  the  ^^  Spiritual  Mansion,"  not 
only  produced  pretended  messages  from  the 
departed  friends  of  her  patron,  but  also  from 
nearly  every  martyr  and  saint  in  the  Protestant 
calendar,  and  from  the  famous  sages  and  rulers 
of  old.  But  her  imposture  stopped  short  of 
actual  sacrilege.  Beyond  that  Hne  she  never  has 
gone. 

When  it  came'  to  transmitting  messages 
demanded  by  the  living  of  the  apostles  and 
fathers  of  the  church,  she  revolted  against  this 
mania  for  the  supernatural  and  the  impossible, 
and  she  refused  to  continue  longer  the  instru- 
ment of  pure  religious  insanity. 

She  decHned  to  produce  *' spirit  rappings,"  as 
emanating  from  St.  Paul,  St.  Peter,  Elijah  and 
the  angel  Gabriel. 

It  has  often  been  said  that  Henry  Seybert 
had  an  undoubted  vein  of  madness  in  his  brain. 
Mrs.  Kane  herself  so  declares.  1  believe  the 
same  is  true  of  every  person  (not  a  knave  at 
heart)  who  persistently,   after  reason  and  con- 


A  SCIENTTFIO  JURY.  167 

scientious  research  have  demonstrated  the  truth 
of  the  charges  against  Spirituahsm,  still  refuses 
to  be  convinced. 

There  v^as,  however,  a  method  in  the  madness 
of  Seybert.  Mrs.  Kane  has  always  been  most 
careful  not  to  make  any  positive  asseveration  of 
the  claims  of  Spirituahsm.  Her  guarded  and,  in 
some  measure,  candid  course,  no  doubt  tended 
very  far  towards  influencing  him  to  desire  an 
honest  and  thorough  investigation  of  the  so-called 
spirituahstic  phenomena,  to  be  conducted  accord- 
ing to  the  most  rigid  scientific  methods.  .  In  his 
will,  he  left  provision  for  the  founding  of  a  chair 
of  philosophy  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
with  the  careful  stipulation  that  a  certain  portion 
of  the  income  to  be  derived  from  the  foundation 
should  be  devoted  to  the  investigation  of  "all 
systems  of  morals,  religion  or  philosophy  which 
assume  to  represent  the  truth ;  and  particularly 
of  modern  Spiritualism." 

Thus  this  legacy  gave  birth  to  the  celebrated 
"Seybert  Commission,"   whose  labors   have  re- 


168  A   SOIENTiriO  JTJBY. 

suited  in  the  most  valuable  expose,  prior  to  this 
present  publication,  of  the  fraudulent  methods  of 
Spiritualism— ^' the  tricks  of  the  trade,"  as  it  were 
— ^which  has  ever  been  made. 

Even  the  investigation  of  the  remarkable 
*'rappings,"  produced  by  Mrs.  KauQ,  in  which  the 
Commission  engaged — while  less  successful  than 
any  other  branch  of  their  researches — went  so 
far  as  fully  to  convince  them  that  these  alleged 
manifestations  were  entirely  fraudulent,  and  that 
they  were  produced  by  physical  action  on  the 
part  of  the  "  medium,"  probably  by  or  in  the 
vicinity  of  her  feet. 

This  they  were  unable  to  prove,  however,  by 
any  use  of  their  five  senses,  which  they  were  per- 
mitted to  make.  Mrs.  Kane  gave  them  no  such 
chance  of  examination,  on  this  occasion,  as  had 
heen  vouchsafed  to  the  Buffalo  doctors  some 
thirty-six  years  before,  almost  with  the  result  of 
throttling  Spiritualism  in  its  infancy.  No  ;  she 
was  much  too  clever  for  that.  She  would  greatly 
have  preferred,  to  being  ignominiously  found  out, 
to  make  a  public  and  unreserved  confession. 


A   SCIENTITIC  JTJEY.  169 

The  fact  is  that  no  other  scientific  committee 
ever  enjoyed  the  facihties  of  close  observation  of 
the  production  of  the  ^'  raps  •'  which  were  accorded 
to  the  ''  Buffalo  doctors,"  and  that,  up  to  this  final 
day,  when  Mrs.  Kane  herself  tells  the  truth,  there 
has  been  not  one  single  positive  exposure  of  the 
primitive  fraud  of  the  ^Hoe-knockings."  Conjec- 
tures, it  is  true,  have  groped  in  that  direction, 
time  and  again— but  they  never  have  done  more 
than  to  grope. 

The  members  of  the  ^'Seybert  Commission" 
were  extremely  eager  to  obtain  sittings  with  Mrs. 
Kane,  and  were  successful  at  an  early  stage  of 
their  studies  in  doing  so.  Mr.  Horace  Howard  Fur- 
ness  of  Philadelphia  was  acting  chairman  of  the 
Commission  a  good  part  of  the  time,  and  as  such 
he  wrote  to  Mrs.  Kane  in  the  following  very 
urgent  manner : 

'*  222  West  Washij^gtoit  Square. 
*'  Dear  Mrs.  Kane  : 

*'  I  wrote  to  you  some  ten  days  ago,  but,  since  I  have 
not  heard  from  yon,  fear  that  my  letter  has  miscarried, 
and  will  therefore  repeat  it. 


170  A   SCIENTIFIO  JURY. 

"  I  am  anxious,  very  anxious,  that  the  '  Seybert 
Commission,'  of  which  I  am  the  chairman,  should  have 
an  opportunity  of  investigating  the  'Eappings.'  Will 
you,  therefore,  appoint  some  day  and  hour,  at  your  ear- 
liest convenience,  when  I  can  visit  you  in  New  York  and 
make  arrangements  with  you  personally  ? 

"  I  sincerely  trust  that  your  summer  has  been  health- 
ful and  peaceful,  and  beg  to  subscribe  myself 
^'  Yours  respectfully, 

^^  Horace  Howard  Furness. 

^' 22nd  October,  1884/' 

Mrs.  Kane  became  the  guest  of  Mr.  Furness  at 
his  house,  and  there  produced  the  '^  rappings  "  at 
two  seances,  which  were  full  of  important  signifi- 
cance. 

The  first  was  on  the  5th  of  November,  1884, 
in  the  evening.  The  company  consisted  of  Dr. 
William  Pepper  and  his  wife,  Dr.  Joseph  Leidy, 
Dr.  George  A.  Koeing,  Prof.  Kobert  Ellis  Thomp- 
son, Mr.  Horace  Howard  Furness,  Mr.  George  S. 
Fullerton,  Mr.  Coleman  Sellers,  all,  excepting  the 
lady,  members  of  the  Commission,  and  Mr. 
George  S.  Pepper,  Miss  Logan,  and  the  '^medium." 


A  SOIENTIFIO  JTTEY.  171 

All  seated  themselves  around  an  open  dining- 
table,  Mrs.  Kane  at  one  end  and  Mr.  Sellers  at  the 
other.     The  report  of  the  Commission  says  : 

''The  medium  sat  with  her  feet  partly  under 
the  table,  and  consequently  concealed  from  most 
of  those  present — her  feet  were  hidden  also  by  her 
dress." 

After  the  usual  preHminaries  of  an  introduc- 
tion to  denizens  of  the  "spirit  land,"  the  soul  of 
Henry  Seybert  was  announced.  He  declared 
through  the  "  medium  "  that  he  knew  the  names 
of  the  members  of  the  Commission,  and  particu- 
larly of  the  one  who  was  addressing  him.  Mr. 
Sellers,  who  happened  to  be  this  person,  requested 
-the  spirit  to  spell  his  name  by  the  aid  of  a  written 
alphabet,  each  letter  of  which  was  pointed  to  in 
turn,  the  letter  intended  by  the  "spirit"  being 
indicated  by  three  "raps."  The  result  was  that 
the  name  spelled  out  was  the  following  : 

"  CHAELES  CERI  !" 

Without  commenting  upon  this  blunder  of  the 


172  A  SOIENTIFIO  JUET. 

*^  spirit,"  the  Commission  encouraged  Mrs.  Kane 
to  proceed.  She  took  a  station  at  some  distance 
from  the  table,  her  hands  resting  upon  the  back 
of  a  chair,  and  '^  raps  "  were  heard  which  seemed 
to  come  from  a  point  very  near  or  under  her. 
Again,  when  she  stood  close  to  a  bookcase,  ^^  raps  " 
were  produced  which  she  declared  to  proceed  from 
the  glass  door  upon  which  Mr.  Sellers  rested  his 
hand.  The  latter  felt  not  the  shghtest  vibration 
of  the  glass.  Mrs.  Kane  then  produced  written 
messages,  addressed  to  two  persons  present,  whose 
names  she  might  have  ascertained  with  very 
great  ease.  The  writing  was  an  irregular  scrawl, 
running  from  the  left,  and  leaning  backward,  and 
could  only  be  read  from  the  observe  side  by  hold- 
ing the  paper  up  to  the  light. 

The  second  seance  in  which  Mrs.  Kane  acted 
as  *^  medium  "  took  place  at  the  same  place  on  the 
6th  of  November,  ISSi.  Dr.  Leidy,  Mr.  Furness, 
Dr.  Koeing,  Mr.  Fullerton  and  Mr.  Sellers,  mem- 
bers of  the  Commission,  Mr.  George  S.  Pepper, 
Mrs.  Kane  and  a  stenographer  were  present.     The 


A   SCIENTIFIC   JURY.  173 

experiments  of  this  evening  were  more  lengthy 
and  exhaustive  than  those  of  the  previous  one. 
For  convenience  of  narration  I  shall  divide  them 
into  two  series  :  those  made  while  the  '^medium" 
either  stood  upon  the  floor  or  sat  upon  an  ordin- 
ary seat  in  an  ordinary  position  ;  those  in  which 
she  was  separated  from  the  floor,  either  by  glass 
or  by  some  object  of  considerable  height,  upon 
which  she  stood ;  and  those  in  which  she  pro- 
duced writing  upon  ordinary  paper,  said  to  have 
been  dictated  by  the  ^'  spirits."  The  experiments 
did  not  always  take  place  in  the  consecutive  order 
in  which  I  shall  note  them. 

The  report  says  :  '*  The  '  spirit  rappings '  during 
the  evening,  aside  from  those  heard  during  the 
test  with  glass  tumblers,  were  apparently  confined 
to  the  floor  space  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  and 
directly  beneath  the  table  around  which  the 
company  were  seated." 

The  stenographic  report  of  this  part  of  the 
investigation  proceeds  as  follows  : 

"  Mr.  Sellers.    Is  any  spirit  present  now  I 


174:  A   SCIENTIFIC   JURY. 

'^  Three  raps — faint  and  partly  distinct — are 
almost  instantly  audible.  The  raps  apparently 
emanate  from  the  floor-space  directly  beneath,  or 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  table.  This 
remark  is  applicable  to  all  the  '  rappings '  during 
the  seance  at  the  pine  table. 

''The  'Medium'  (interpreting  the  sounds). 
That  was  'yes.' 

"Mr.  Sellers  (aside).  They  sounded  like 
three. 

"  The  raps  are  immediately  repeated  with  more 
distinctness. 

"Mr.  Sellers  (aside).  There  are  three,  and 
they  are  quite  distinct.  Is  the  spirit  the  same  that 
was  present  last  night  ? 

"Three  raps,  apparently  identical  with  those 
last  heard,  are  again  audible. 

"  Mr.  Sellers  (aside).  It  says  it  is  the  same 
spirit.  I  presume  then,  that  it  is  Henry  Seybert  ? 
(No  response.)    Is  it  Henry  Seybert? 

"Three  raps — distinct  and  positive. 

"  Mr.  Sellers.    You  promised  last  evening  to 


A   SCIENTIFIC   JURY.  175 

give  a  communication  to  Mr.  Pepper.  Are  you 
able  to  communicate  with  him  now  ? 

*^  Two  raps — comparitively  feeble. 

"The  'Medium'  (interpreting).  One,  two: 
that  means  not  now. 

''Mr.  Sellers  (repeating).      Not  now? 

"The 'Medixjivi'  (reflectively).  But  probably 
before  he  leaves. 

"  Three  raps— quickly,  distinctly  and  instantly 
given. 

"The  'Medium.'  He  said  'Yes,  before  he 
.leaves.'  (To  Mr.  Sellers.)  You  asked  that  ques- 
tion, I  think  ? 

"Mr.  Sellers.  Yes.  Will  you  communicate 
with  him  before  Mr.  Pepper  leaves  to-night  ? 

"Three  raps — instantaneous,  quick  and  vig- 
orous." 

Afterwards,  the  experiment  of  standing  near 
a  table,  the  "medium"  not  touching  it,  to  see  if 
sounds  similar  to  those  of  the  previous  evening 
could  be  produced,  was  repeated.  The  "medium  " 
insisted,  however,  that  there  should  be  no  break- 


176  A   SCIENTIFIC   JITRY. 

ing  of  the  circle  formed  about  her  by  those  who 
were  present. 

"All  of  the  gentlemen,  and  the  *  medium,'" 
says  the  report,  ^' rise  and  remain  standing.    *     * 

"The  ^Medium.'  This  is  test,  something  I 
have  not  gone  through  since  I  was  a  httle  child, 
almost. 

*'  Mr.  Sellers  (after  an  interval  of  waiting). 
There  seem  to  be  no  raps.  (Another  short  inter- 
val.) Now  Mr.  Seybert,  cannot  you  produce 
some  raps  ? 

"  Eighty  seconds  here  elapse  with  no  response, 
when  the  ^  medium '  made  an  observation  which 
was  partly  inaudible  at  the  reporter's  seat,  the 
purport  of  which  was  that  the  *  spirit  communi- 
cations '  are  sometimes  retarded  or  facilitated  by 
a  compliance  by  the  listeners  with  cei^tain  condi- 
tions. Another  interval  of  probably  two  minutes 
elapsed,  when  the  ^  medium '  suggested  to  Dr. 
Leidy  to  place  his  hands  upon  the  table.  The 
suggestion  was  complied  with. 

"Mr.  Sellers  inquires  of  the  '  medium  '  whether 


A    SCIENTIFIC   JURY.  177 

a  change  in  her  position,  with  regard  to  the  table, 
would  do  any  good. 

'* '  Medium.'    I  will  change  positions  with  you. 

"  The  change  was  made  accordingly,  but  with- 
out result,  and  another  period  of  waiting 
followed. 

''The  'Medium'  (to  Dr.  Leidy).  Suppose  you 
ask  some  questions.  You  may  have  some  friend 
who  will  respond. 

''  Dr.  Leidy.  Is  any  spirit  present  whom  I 
know,  or  who  knows  me  ? 

"After  a  pause  of  ten  seconds,  three  light 
raps  are  heard. 

"  Dr.  Leidy.    Who  am  I  ? 

''The  'medhim'  explains  that  the  responses 
by  rappings  are  mainly  indicative  only  of  afifirma- 
tion  or  negation. 

"Dr.  Leidy.  Will  you  repeat  your  taps  to 
indicate  that  you  are  present  yet  ? 

"  Three  taps  are  heard. 

"  Mr.  Sellers.  Those  are  very  clearly  heard, 
8* 


178  A   SCIENTIFIC  JURY. 

''The  *'  Medium'  (to  Dr.  Leidy).  Ask  if  that 
is  Mr.  Seybert. 

''  Dr.  Leidy.    Is  Mr.  Seybert  present  ? 

''  Three  raps — very  feeble. 

''Dr.  Leidy  (to  Mr.  Sellers^.  Was  there  an 
answer  to  that  ? 

"  Mr.  Sellers.  There  was.  The  answer  was 
three  raps.  (After  an  interval,  in  which  no 
response  is  received.)  There  seem  to  be  no  fur- 
ther communications." 

Later  in  the  evening  efforts  to  engage  the 
defunct  Mr.  Seybert  in  conversation  were  again 
made.  The  company  were  as  before  gathered 
about  the  table.  ' '  Eaps  "  were  made  by  Mrs.  Kane 
on  the  floor.  The  "  spirit ''  was  asked  if  he  knew 
the  members  of  the  Commission  present,  and  to 
state  their  number.  When  it  came  to  the 
response  to  the  latter  part  of  the  question  there 
were  "  seven  slow,  deliberate  and  distinct  raps." 

Alas !  the  "spirit "  had  mistaken  the  guest  of 
the  Commission,  Mr.  George  S.  Pepper,  and  the 
stenographers  for  members  1 


A  SCIENTIFIO  JURY.  179 

The  latter  were  seated  at  a  separate  table. 

'^Mr.  Sellers.  Are  there  seven  members  of 
the  Committee  present? 

^'  Three  raps. 

^'Mr.  Sellers.  Are  they  all  seated  around 
one  table  ? 

''  No  response.    About  forty  seconds  elapse. 

''Mr.  Sellers.  Are  they  seated  at  two 
tables  ? 

''Three  raps — quite  feeble. 

"  Mr.  Sellers  (to  his  associates).  We  still 
must  gojback  to  the  one  thing.  The  information 
we  receive  through  these  responses  is  of  little 
importance  to  us  compared  with  the  information 
which  we  must  obtain  as  to  whether  these 
sounds  are  produced  by  a  disembodied  Spirit  or 
by  some  hving  person ;  that  is,  in  deference  to 
the  '  Medium.'  (To  Mr.  Furness.)  Do  you  not 
think  so  ? 

"  Mr.  Furness  is  understood  to  assent. 

"Mr.  Sellers.  We  have  tried  the  glass 
tumblers.    We  have  the  sounds  here.    I  would 


180  A   SCIENTIFIC   JURY. 

ask  Mrs.  Kane  if  it  is  proper  for  us  to  look  below 
the  top  of  the  table  at  the  time  the  sounds  are 
being  produced,  and  in  such  a  way  as  to  see  her 
feet. 

^'The  ^Medium.'  Yes,  of  course,  you  could 
do  that,  but  it  is  not  well  to  break,  when  you  are 
standing,  suddenly.  As  you  know,  you  have  to 
conform  to  the  rules,  else  you  will  get  no  rap- 
pings. 

^'  Mr.  Sellers.  What  are  the  rules  ? 
/^The  ^Medium'  (disconnectedly.)  The  rules 
are — every  test  condition,  that  I  am  perfectly 
willing  to  go  through,  and  have  gone  through  a 
thousand  times — at  the  same  time,  there  are 
times  when  you  can  break  the  rules.  So  slight 
a  thing  as  the  disjoining  of  hands  may  break  the 
rules.  I  do  not  think  the  standing  on  the  glass 
has  been  fully  tried. 

"  Mr.  Sellers.    We  will  try  that  later. 

"Mr.  Furness  (to  the  ^medium,'  informally). 
This  investigation  is  one  of  great  importance  to 
us.      There  is  no  question  about  it— we   have 


A   BCIENTinO  JURY.  181 

heard  these  curious  sounds.  Now  as  to  whether 
they  come  from  ^spirits'  or  not— that  would 
seem  to  be  the  very  next  logical  step  in  our 
inquiry.  I  think  you  are  entirely  at  one  with  us 
in  every  possible  desire  to  have  this  phenomenon 
investigated. 

''The  'Medium.'  Oh,  certainly.  But  I 
pledge  myself  to  conform  to  nothing,  for— as  I 
said  in  Europe — /  do  not  even  say  the  sounds  are 
from  '  spirits  f  and,  what  is  more,  it  is  utterly 
beyond  human  power  to  detect  them.  /  do  not 
say  they  are  the  spirits  of  our  departed  friends, 
hut  1  leave  others  to  judge  for  themselves. 

"Mr.  Furness.  Then  you  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  they  are  entirely  independent  of 
yourself. 

"  The  '  Medium.'  No,  I  do  not  knoiu  that  they 
are  entirely  independent  of  myself. 

"Mr.  Furness.  Under  what  conditions  can 
you  influence  them  ? 

"The  response,  which  was  partly  inaudible  at 
the  reporter's  seat,  was  understood  to  be  :  'I 
cannot  tell.' 


182  A  SCIENTIFIO  JURY. 

* '  Mr.  Furness.  You  say  that  in  the  generality 
of  cases  they  are  beyond  your  control  ? 

''The 'Medium.'    Yes. 

"Mr.  Furness.  How  in  the  world  shall  we 
test  that  ? 

"  The  '  Medium.'    Well,  by— 

"Mr.  Furness.  By— what?  Isolating  you 
from  the  table  ? 

"The  'Medium.'    Yes. 

"Mr.  Furness  (applying  his  right  hand,  by  her 
permission,  to  the  'Medium's'  head).  Are  you 
ever  conscious  of  any  vibration  in  your  bones  ? 

"The  'Medium.'  No;  but  sometimes  it 
causes  an  exhaustion,  that  is,  under  circum- 
stances when  the  raps  do  not  come  freely. 

"  Mr.  Furness.  The  freer  the  raps  come,  the 
better  for  you  ?  ^ 

"The  'Medium.'  Yes,  the  freer  the  better— 
the  less  exhaustion. 

"Mr.  Sellers.  But  do  you  feel  now,  to- 
night, any  untoward  influence  operating  against 
you? 


A  SCIENTIFIO  JDET.  183 

**  The  *  Medium.'  No,  not  to-night,  for  it  takes 
quite  a  httle  while  before  we  feel  these  things. 

"Mr.  Furness.  Do  these  raps  always  have 
that  vibratory  sound — tr-rut — tr-rut — tr-rut  ? 

'^  The  *  Medium.'    Sometimes  they  vary. 

"Mr.  Furness.  As  a  general  rule  I  have 
heard  them  sound  so. 

"The  'Medium.'  Every  rap  has  a  different 
sound.  For  instance,  when  the  *  spirit '  of  Mr. 
Seyberfc  rapped,  if  the  sound  was  a  good  one,  you 
would  have  noticed  that  his  rap  was  different 
from  that  of  another.  Every  one  is  entirely  dif- 
ferent from  another. 

"Mr.  Furness.  Do  you  suppose  that  the 
present  conditions  are  such  that  you  can  throw 
the  raps  to  a  part  of  the  room  other  than  that  in 
which  you  are  ? 

"  The  '  Medium.'  I  do  not  pretend  to  do  that, 
but  I  will  try  to  do  it. 

'*  Mr.  Furness  and  Dr.  Leidy  station  themselves 
in  the  corner  of  the  room,  diagonally,  and  most 
remote  from  the  pine  table,  at  which  their  asso- 


184-  A  SCiENTItlO  JURY. 

dates  remain  seated,  with  their  hands  upon  the 
table,  and  '  their  minds  intent  on  having  the  raps 
produced  at  the  corner  indicated,'  as  requested  by 
the  'medium,'  who  also  remains  at  the  table. 
The  '  medium '  asks,  'Will  the  "  Spirit "  rap  at  the 
other  side  of  the  room  f  and,  after  twelve  seconds, 
and  again  after  forty -three  seconds,  repeats  the 
inquiry.  No  response  is  received.  The  experi- 
ment is  repeated  with  Mr.  Furness  and  Dr. 
Koenig  at  the  corner,  but  with  a  like  negative 
result." 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  experiments  made 
while  the  '^ medium"  was  not  in  a  position  in 
which  her  feet  could  touch  the  floor.  The  report 
says : 

"Mr.  Sellers  made  this  inquiry  : 

*'*It  is  proposed  that  the  '' medium"  shall 
stand  upon  tumblers.  Are  we  likely  to  have 
any  demonstration  ?' 

**  Three  raps— promptly  given,  though  feeble 
in  delivery  and  but  faintly  audible. 

*'  The  '  Medium.'  There  were  three— a  kind  of 
tardy  assent. 


A   SCIENTIFIC   JURY.  185 

"Mr.  Sellers  (to  the  ^Medium').  As  if  the 
*  Spirits '  might  or  might  not  communicate  ? 

^^  The  '  Medium.'  Well,  that  a  trial  might  be 
made. 

'*  Three  raps  are  here  again  distinctly  heard — 
the  characteristics  of  the  sounds  in  this  instance 
being  rapidity  and  energy,  or  positiveness. 

*'  The  *  Medium.'    That  is  a  quick  answer. 

''At  this  point,  attention  is  directed  to  the 
first  of  a  series  of  experiments  with  four  glass 
tumblers,  which  are  placed  together,  with  the 
bottoms  upward,  on  the  carpeted  floor,  in  the 
center  of  a  vacant  space.  The  '  medium '  stands 
directly  upon  these,  the  heels  of  her  shoes  resting 
upon  the  rear  tumblers  and  the  soles  upon  the 
front  tumblers.  The  Committee  co-operate  with 
the  'medium,'  and,  in  conformity  with  her  sug- 
gestions, all  the  men  clasp  hands  and  form  a 
semi-circle  in  front  of  the  'medium,'  the  hands 
of  the  latter  being  grasped  by  the  gentlemen 
nearest  to  her  on  either  side. 

"Mr.  Sellers  (after  a  notification  from  the 


186  A  SCIENTIFIO  JURY. 

medium  to  proceed).  Is  Mr.  Seybert  still  pres- 
ent? 

"  No  response. 

''The  'Medium.'  It  may  be  a  few  minutes 
before  you  will  hear  any  rapping  through  these 
glasses. 

"  Ten  seconds  elapse. 

"  The  'Medium.'  This  test  is  a  very  satisfac- 
tory one,  if  they  do  it.  And  they  have  done  it  a 
hundred  times. 

"  Five  seconds  elapse. 

"The  'Medium'  (to  Mr.  Furness).  The 
glasses  are  not  placed  over  the  marble,  are  they  ? 

"Mr.  Furness.    No,  the  floor  is  of  wood. 

"Mr.  Sellers  (after  another  interval  of  wait- 
ing) informally  remarked  to  Mr.  Furness  :  '  We 
will  wait  probably  for  another  minute  to  see  if 
anything  comes.  As  you  know,  the  'medium' 
claims  that  it  is  impossible  for  her  to  control 
these  things — that  she  is  merely  one  who  is  oper- 
ated through.' 

"  Another  interval  expires. 


A  SOTENTIFIO  JtTRT.  187 

^'The  *  Medium.'  That  was  a  very  faint  rap. 
Suppose  we  change  the  position  of  the  glasses. 

^^Note  by  the  stenographer.  No  intimation 
is  given  that  the  rap  here  spoken  of  was  heard  by 
any  one  other  than  the  '  medium  '  herself.  Pur- 
suant to  the  request  just  stated,  the  carpet  is 
removed  and  the  glass  tumblers  are  located  on  the 
bare  floor  at  a  point  about  five  feet  distant  from 
the  place  at  which  the  test  was  first  tried.  The 
new  location  is  in  the  center  of  a  passage-way 
about  three  feet  in  width,  between  a  side-board 
on  one  side,  and  a  wall  projection  on  the  other. 
Its  selection  is  apparently,  though  not  specific- 
ally, dictated  by  the  position  and  movements  of 
the  ^  medium.'  The  '  medium '  and  the  Commit- 
tee resume  their  positions,  the  former  standing 
on  the  glasses  and  the  gentlemen  facing  her  in  a 
group. 

^'  The  '  Medium.'  Now,  Spirits,  will  you  rap 
on  the  floor  ? 

*'  Thirty  seconds  here  elapsed  with  no 
response,   when    one   glass  was   heard  to  click 


188  A  SOIENTIFIO  JUBT. 

against  the  other,  and  the  ^  medium '  exclaimed 
^Ohl' 

"  The  *  Medium  '  (repeating).  Will  you  rap  on 
the  floor  ? 

'*  Thirty  seconds  now  elapse  without  any 
demonstration. 

"The  'Medium'  (aside).  Ifc  seems  to  be  a 
failure.     They  have  done  it. 

''Another  click  of  the  glasses  which  passes 
without  comment. 

"  Mr.  Sellers.  We  will  have  to  set  down  the 
result  of  the  experiment  on  glass  tumblers  as 
negative.     It  may  be  well  to  try  it  later. 

"  The  '  Medium  '  (evidently  reluctant  to  aban- 
don the  test).  Suppose  now,  as  we  have  gone  so 
far,  we  kind  of  form  a  chain. 

"The  company  retained  their  positions  with 
hands  joined,  and  the  '  Spirits  '  were  repeatedly 
requested  to  make  their  presence  known.  Mr. 
Pepper,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  '  medium,' ask- 
ing the  '  Spirit '  of  his  friend,  Henry  Seybert,  to 
manifest  its  presence  by  one  rap — but  all  efforts 
to  elicit  such  response  proved  ineffectual. 


A   SCIENTIFIC   JTJEY.  189 

"  When  the  same  experiments  were  resumed, 
the  lady  proceeded  to  the  space  between  the  side- 
hoard  and  the  loall,  where  the  last  preceding  test 
had  been  made,  and  there  the  tumblers  were 
again  arranged.  The  ^  medium  '  resumed  her 
position  upon  them,  with  Drs.  Leidy  and  Koeing, 
and  Messrs.  Sellers  and  Furness  facing  her. 

"The  ' Medium.'    Will  the  Spirit  rap  here ? 

"  Twenty-three  seconds  elapse. 

"  Dr.  Leidy.    Is  any  '  Spirit '  present. 

''  An  interval  of  thirty-nine  seconds  here 
followed,  when  the  attention  of  the  Committee 
was  momentarily  diverted  by  an  inquiry  addressed 
to  Mr.  Furness  by  Mr.  Sellers,  viz.  :  Whether  a 
glass  plate  of  sufficient  strength  to  bear  the 
weight  of  the  ^medium'  was  procurable.  At 
this  moment  the  '  medium '  suddenly  exclaimed  : 
*I  hear  a  rap.  You  said,  "Gret  a  glass,''  and 
there  was  a  rap.' 

"The  'Mediuivi'  (repeating  for  the  information 
of  Mr.  Furness).  Somebody  proposed  a  glass  and 
there  were  three  raps. 


190  A   SCIENTIFIC   JURY. 

^^Dr.  Koenig  inquires  of  the  ^medium' 
whether  the  meaning  intended  to  be  conveyed  by 
the  sounds  is  that  the  '  spirits  '  desire  to  have  the 
glass  plate  produced. 

''  The  '  Medium.'  I  do  not  know.  I  know  there 
were  raps.  (Turning  to  Mr.  Sellers,  the  ^  medium ' 
adds :)  They  may  have  been  made  by  your  heel 
on  the  floor,  but  certainly  there  were  sounds. 

'  *  Mr.  Fullerton.  Then  it  was  not  the  regular 
triple  rap  ? 

"  The  'Medium.'    I  could  not  tell. 

''Just  before  calling  attention  to  the  alleged 
rap  or  raps,  the  '  medium '  grasped  with  her  right 
hand  the  wood- work  of  the  side-board,  as  if  for 
support.  It  was  then  that  she  stated  she  heard 
the  sounds.  They  were  apparently  not  heard  by 
any  one  but  the  '  medium.' 

"Mr.  Sellers  (addressing  the  'spirit').  Will 
you  repeat  the  raps  we  heard  just  now,  assuming 
that  there  were  some  ? 

"  Ten  minutes  elapse  without  a  response. 

"  The  '  Medium.'    There  is  no  use  of  my  stand- 


A   SCIENTIFIC   JURY.  191 

ing  any  longer,  for  when  they  come  at  all,  they 
come  right  away. 

^'  Mr.  Sellers  (after  scrutinizing  the  position  of 
one  of  the  feet  of  the  ^  medium ').  The  edge  of 
the  heel  of  the  shoe  rests  on  the  back  tumbler. 
(Assuming  a  stooping  posture  for  a  more  pro- 
longed scrutiny.)  We  will  see  whether  the  raps 
will  be  produced  now. 

*'The  ^medium'  now  proposes  that  all  the 
members  of  the  committee  shall  stand  up  and 
join  hands. 

^^Mr.  Sellers  and  his  associates  accordingly 
stand,  facing  the  ^medium,'  with  hands  joined. 
Changes  in  their  positions  were  made  by  some  of 
the  gentlemen  from  time  to  time,  as  suggested  by 
the  'medium,'  Mr.  Pepper  and  Dr.  Koenig  being 
the  first  to  exchange  places.  This  occurred  after 
a  silence  of  thirty  seconds,  without  any  response. 

'*The  'Medium.'  Now,  Mr.  Seybert,  if  your 
'spirit'  is  here,  will  you  have  the  kindness — I 
knew  Mr.  Seybert  well  in  hfe — to  rap  ? 

''  Fifteen  seconds  elapse. 


192  A   SCIENTIFIC   JURY. 

*'The  'Medium.'  No,  he  does  not  seem  to 
respond. 

"At  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Sellers,  all  of  the 
gentlemen  approach  the  *  medium'  for  the  pur- 
pose of  inducing  some  acknowledgment  by  the 
^spirit,'  and  inquiries  similar  to  those  akeady 
stated  are  repeated  without  result. 

''The  Commission  temporarily  abandon  the 
test.  When  the  tumblers  are  again  produced  the 
'medium'  takes  her  position  upon  them,  with 
Mr.  Fullerton  standing  next  to  her  upon  the  right 
and  Mr.  Furness  to  the  left.  Mr.  Sellers  remains 
for  some  moments  kneeling  on  the  floor  to  enable 
himself  better  to  hear  any  sounds  that  may  be  but 
faintly  audible.  The  'spirits'  are  repeatedly 
importuned  by  the  'medium'  to  produce  the 
'rappings,'  but  no  response  is  heard  until  the 
company  is  about  to  abandon  the  experiment. 
Three  raps  are  then  audible.  The  raps  are  very 
light,  but  very  distinct. 

"Mr.  Fullerton  states  that  he  heard  the  raps. 

"  Mr.  Sellers,     I  heard  a  sound  tlien,  but  it 


A   SCIENTIFIC   JURY.  193 

seemed  as  if  it  was  around  there.  (Indicating  the 
wall  immediately  in  the  rear  of  the  *  medium.') 

*' The  tumblers  are  here  moved  further  away 
from  the  wall,  and  the  'medium'  resumes  her 
position  upon  them. 

"Mr.  Sellers.  Will  the  'Spirit 'rap  again? 
(No  response.) 

''  The  '  Medium.'  Were  any  of  you  gentlemen 
acquainted  with  Mr.  Seybert  in  his  lifetime  ? 

"  Mr.  Fullerton.  I  saw  him  several  times  be- 
fore his  death.  If  he  can  give  an  intimation  now 
of  anything  he  said  at  that  time,  it  wiU  indicate 
that  he  remembers  it. 

"  A  very  faint  rap  is  heard. 

"  The  '  Medium.'  There  is  a  rap.  It  seems  to 
be  there  again.  (Indicating  the  spot  to  which 
attention  was  previously  called  by  Mr.  Sellers.) 

''The  ' medium '  again  importunes,  first,  'Mr. 
Seybert,' and  next  the 'spirits,' to  rap;  and  the 
importunities  are  repeated.  Three  raps  are  dis- 
tinctly, but  faintly  heard. 


194  A   SCIENTIFIO  JURY. 

"  Mr.  Sellers.  I  heard  them.  They  sounded 
somewhat  hke  the  others,  not  exactly. 

^'The  ^Medium.'  I  heard  one  rap,  but  it  is 
nothing  for  me  to  hear  them  ;  I  want  you  gentle- 
men to  hear  them. 

••'  Mr.  Sellers.  Probably  we  will  hear  them 
again. 

''While  Mr.  Sellers  and  Mr.  Furness  are  con- 
versing, several  raps  are  heard,  though  less  distinct 
than  the  preceding  ones. 

''The  '  Medium.'  There  they  are,  as  though 
right  under  the  glass.  (After  a  silence  of  forty 
seconds)  Now  I  hear  them  again,  very  hght— oh, 
very  hght. 

"Mr.  Furness,  with  the  permission  of  the 
*  medium,'  places  his  hand  upon  one  of  her  feet. 

"The  '  Medium.'  There  are  raps  now,  strong — 
yes,  I  hear  them. 

"  Mr.  Furness  (to  the  '  medium ').  This  is  the 
most  wonderful  thing  of  all,  Mrs.  Kane;  1  dis- 
tinctly feel  them  in  your  foot.  There  is  not  a 
particle  of  motion  in  your  foot,  but  there  is  an 
tinusual  pulsation. 


A  SCIENTIFIC  JUBT.  195 

"  Mr.  Sellers  here  made  some  inquiries  of  the 
*  medium/  concerning  the  shoes  now  worn  by  her. 
The  replies,  which  were  not  direct,  are  here  given. 

' '  Mr.  Sellers.  Are  those  the  shoes  which  you 
usually  wear  ? 

''  The  '  Medium.'    I  wear  all  kinds  of  shoes. 

"  Mr.  Sellers.  Are  the  sounds  produced  in 
your  room  when\ou  have  no  shoes  on  ? 

^^The  'Medium.'  More  or  less.  They  are 
produced  under  all  circumstances. 

'^ Following  the  suggestion  of  the  'medium/ 
all  present  proceed  through  an  intervening 
apartment  to  the  library,  where  the  '  medium ' 
selects  various  positions — standing  upon  a  lounge, 
then  upon  a  cushioned  chair,  next  upon  a  step- 
ladder,  and  finally  upon  the  side  of  a  book-case — 
but  all  with  a  hke  unsuccessful  result,  no  response 
by  '  rappings '  being  heard. 

"In  the  midst  of  the  experiments  at  the  table 
Mrs.  Kane  exclaimed  to  Mr.  Sellers  :  Well,  my 
hand  does  feel  Uke  writing,  Will  you  give 
me  a  piece  of  paper  ?  and,  maybe  they  will  give 
me  some  directions. 


196  A   SCIENTIFIC   JURY. 

'*Mr.  Fullerton  (to  the  'medium').  How 
does  your  hand  feel  when  affected  in  that  way  ? 

"  The  'Medium.'  It  is  a  pecuhar  feehng,  hke 
that  from  taking  hold  of  electrical  instruments. 
I  do  not  know  but  that  you  might  possibly  feel  it 
in  my  hand. 

"  The  lady  here  extended  her  right  hand  upon 
the  table  toward  Mr.  Fullerton.  The  latter  placed 
his  left  hand  upon  the  extended  hand  of  the 
'medium,'  and  subsequently  remarked  that  the 
pulsation  of  her  wrist  was  a  little  above  the 
ordinary  rate. 

"The  'medium,'  ostensibly  under  'spirit' 
influence,  with  lead-pencil  in  hand,  proceeded  to 
write  two  communications  from  the  '  spirit '  of 
the  late  Henry  Seybert.  The  first  of  these 
covered  two  pages  of  paper  of  the  size  of  ordinaiy 
foolscap.  The  'medium'  w^^ote  in  large  charac- 
ters, with  remarkable  rapidity,  and  in  a  direction 
from  the  right  to  the  left,  or  the  reverse  of  ordin- 
ary handwriting.  The  writing,  consequently, 
could  be  road  only  from  the  reverse  side  of  the 


A   SCIENTIFIC  JURY.  197 

paper,  and  by  being  held  up  so  as  to  permit  the 
gaslight  to  shine  through  it. 

*'The  communications,  as  deciphered  by  Mr. 
Sellers,  with  the  aid  of  Mr.  FuUerton  and  the 
'  medium,'  were  as  follows  : 

''You  must  not  expect  that  I  can  satisfy  you  beyond 

all  doubt  in  so  short  a  time  as  you  have  yet  had.     I 

want  to  give  you  all  in  my  power,  and  will  do  so  if  you 

will  give  me  a  chance.     You  must  commence  right  in 

the  first  place  or  you  shall  all  be   disappointed   for  a 

much  longer  time.     Princiipis  Olsta  Sereo  Medicina 

Paraium. 

''  HENRY  SEYBERT. 

"  Mend  the  fault  in  time  or  we  will  all  be  puzzled. 

''  HENRY  SEYBERT.^' 

The  fault  in  the  Latin  of  the  above  quotation 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  Commission. 

Mr.  George  S.  Pepper,  who  had  been  well 
acquainted  with  Mr.  Seybert  in  his  lifetime,  de- 
clared that  he  had  never  known  any  Latin  at  all! 

The  investigations  of  the  *' Seybert  Commis- 
sion "  in  other  directions  than  that  of  the  '^  rap- 

« 

pings,"  were  far  more  fascinating  and  productive 


198  A   SCIENTIFIO  JUEY. 

of  results.  It  would  be  impossible  to  give  an 
adequate  idea  of  them  here.  The  Commission 
employed  the  most  celebrated  '* mediums"  within 
their  reach,  and  paid  them  liberally  to  place  them 
in  communication  with  the  '^Spirit  world." 
They  saw  (and  they  show  in  their  report  that 
they  did  see)  the  secret  of  every  ^'wonderful" 
thing  done  by  the  "  mediums,"  and  found  it  in 
most  instances  exceedingly  simple,  and  generally 
rather  clumsily  performed.  Professional  jug- 
glers constantly  outdo  professional  ^'mediums." 
This,  the  latter  cannot  deny,  and  they  seek— oh, 
monumental  impudence  ! — to  make  people  believe 
that  jugglers  are  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
"mediums,"  and  that  "mediums"  are  never  in 
any  sense  jugglers  ! 

Thus  the  notorious  Slade  : 

"  Mr.  Sellers.  Do  you  know  a  man  named 
Kellar,  who  is  exhibiting  in  this  city  ? 

"Dr.  Slade.     I  do  not.     I  never  knew  him. 

"Mr.  Sellers.  You  may,  however,  be  able 
to  explain  to  mo  a  very  romarkablo  slate  writing 


A  SCIENTTFIC  JTTRY.  199 

experiment  which  Kellar  has  performed.  (Mr. 
Sellers  here  describes  at  length  Mr.  Kellar's  trick 
with  the  fastened  slates.)  How  did  Mr.  Kellar  do 
that  ? 

"Dr.  Slade.  He  is  a  ^medium.'  He  does 
that  work  precisely  as  I  do  it. 

"Mr.  Sellers.  But  can  he  not  do  it  by 
trickery  ? 

"  Dr.  Slade.  No,  it  is  impossible.  He  is  a 
'medium  '  and  a  powerful  '  medium.'  " 

This  is  from  a  memorandum  of  Mr.  Sellers. 
He  says  further  : 

"The  inquiry  was  then  addressed  to  Mr. 
Slade  :  Do  you  know  a  man  named  Guernilla, 
who,  with  his  wife,  gave  seances  ? 

"  Mr.  Slade.    Yes,  I  know  him  very  well. 

"Mr.  Sellers.  Well,  how  does  he  perform 
his  wonderful  exploits  in  '  rappings,'  etc.  ? 

"Mr.  Slade.  He  is  a  ^medium,'  a  powerful 
*  medium.'  I  know  him  very  well  indeed.  I 
can  assure  you  that  all  he  does  is  done  solely  by 
means  of  his  mediumistic  powers. 


200  A   SOIENTIFIO  JURY. 

"I  now  state  to  the  Committee  that  the 
Guernillas  exhibited  in  Philadelphia  some  years 
ago  as  exposers  of  Spiritualism.  They  did  not 
expose  it,  but  they  performed  experiments  which, 
prior  to  that  time,  were  said  to  have  been  accom- 
phshed  by  the  aid  of  'spirits.'  Guernilla  him- 
self, at  my  house,  in  my  presence,  in  broad  day- 
light, performed  all  the  feats  and  exhibited  the 
phenomena  that  were  produced  at  the  dark  and 
other  seances,  and  he  repeated  them  until  I 
myself  became  as  expert  as  he  in  performing 
them  ;  for  which  I  paid  him  a  consideration.  So 
much  for  the  mediumistic  power." 

Mr.  Sellers  explained  with  reference  to  Mr. 
Kellar : 

''  I  pause  here  for  the  express  purpose  of  hav- 
ing the  fact  noted  that,  being  thoroughly  famihar 
with  the  details  of  the  methods  of  those  experi- 
ments, I  can  positively  assure  the  Committee  that 
there  is  no  mediumistic  power  in  Mr.  Kellar,  so 
far  as  his  methods  are  concerned,  that  those 
methods  are  as  easy  of  solution  as  arc  any  other 
physical  problems." 


THE   UNALTERABLE   VERDICT.  201 


CHAPTER  Xin. 

THE  UNALTERABLE  VERDICT. 

The  "Seybert  Commission"*  examined  every 
known  form  of  spiritualistic  manifestation  to 
which  they  had  access,  and  impHcitly  under  con- 
ditions imposed  by  the  '^ mediums"  themselves. 
These  conditions  are  everything  that  could  be 
devised  and  plausibly  used  to  prevent  the  hoped- 
for  dupe  from  detecting  the  fraud  that  is  practised 
upon  him. 

The  Commission  put  the  indelible  stamp  of 
fiaud  upon  all  so-called  spiritualistic  manifesta- 
tions.    Of  the  *^  spiritual  rappings  "  they  say  : 

*'To  the  subject  of  ^spirit-rappings'  we  have 
devoted  some  time  and  attention,  but  our  investi- 

*  "The  Seybert  Commission  on  Spiritualism,"  J.  B.  Lippin- 
cott  Company,  Philadelphia,   1887.     The  author  is  under  obliga- 
tions to  the  publishers  of  this  volume,  for  material  which  he  has 
taken  from  it. 
9* 


202  THE    [INALTERABLE   VERDICT. 

gations  have  not  been  sufficiently  extensive  to 
v^arrant  us  at  present  in  offering  any  positive  con- 
clusions. The  difficulty  attending  the  investiga- 
tion of  this  mode  of  spiritualistic  manifestation  is 
increased  by  the  fact,  familiar  to  physiologists, 
that  sounds  of  varying  intensity  may  be  produced 
in  almost  any  portion  of  the  human  body  by 
voluntary  muscular  action.  To  determine  the 
exact  location  of  this  muscular  activity  is  at  times 
a  matter  of  delicacy. 

'*  What  v^e  can  say  thus  far,  vTith  assurance, 
is  that,  in  the  cases  which  have  come  under  our 
observation,  the  theory  of  the  purely  physiological 
origin  of  the  sounds  has  been  sustained  by  the 
fact  that  the  'mediums'  were  invariably,  and 
confessedly,  cognizant  of  the  Wrappings'  when- 
ever they  occurred,  and  could  at  once  detect  any 
spurious  '  rappings,'  however  exact  and  indistin- 
guishable to  all  other  ears  might  be  the  imita- 
tion." 

Mrs.  Kane  has  expressed  amusement  over  the 
manner  in  which  she  eluded  the  inquisitions  of 


THE   UNALTERABLE   VERDICT.  203 

the  grave  and  conscientious  Commission  and  left 
them  puzzled  over  the  ^'rappings." 

Even  then,  however,  she  cared  so  little  for  the 
preservation  of  the  secret,  that  v^hen  she  decHned 
to  be  further  examined  by  the  Commission,  she 
admitted  to  Mr.  Furness  that  the  gentlemen  had 
ample  ground  for  looking  upon  the  manifestations 
which  she  had  given  as  unsatisfactory.  Mr.  Fur- 
ness says : 

"  I  told  her  that  the  Commission  had  now  had 
two  seances  with  her,  and  that  the  conchision  to 
which  they  had  come  is  that  the  so-called  raps  are 
confined  wholly  to  her  person^  whether  produced 
by  her  voluntarily  or  involuntarily  they  had  not 
attempted  to  decide  ;  furthermore,  that  although 
thus  satisfied  in  their  own  minds  they  were 
anxious  to  treat  her  with  all  possible  deference  and 
consideration,  and  accordingly  had  desired  me  to 
say  to  her  that  if  she  thought  another  seance 
with  her  would  or  might  modify  or  reverse  their 
conclusion,  they  held  themselves  ready  to  meet 
her  again  this  evening  and  renew  the  investigation 


204  THE   UNALTERABLE   VERDIOT. 

of  the  manifestations  ;  at  the  same  time  I  felt  it 
my  duty  to  add  that  in  tkat  case  the  examination 
would  necessarily  be  of  the  most  searching 
description. 

'^Mrs.  Kane  replied  that  the  manifestations  at 
both  seances  had  been  of  an  unsatisfactory 
nature,  so  unsatisfactory  that  she  could  not  really 
blame  the  Commission  for  arriving  at  their  con- 
clusion. In  her  present  state  of  health  she  really 
doubted  whether  a  third  meeting  would  prove 
any  better  than  the  two  already  held.  It  might 
even  be  more  unsatisfactory,  and  instead  of 
removing  the  present  belief  of  the  Commission  it 
might  add  confirmation  of  it.  In  view  of  these 
considerations,  she  decided  not  to  hold  another 


Mrs.  Kane  declares  that  with  her  muscles 
and -the  joints  of  her  toes  so  educated  by  long 
practice,  and  her  ability  to  produce  the  noise  of 
^^raps"  with  no  perceptible  movement,  she  could 
have  gone  on  deceiving  the  world  indefinitely  with- 


THE    UNALTERABLE    VERDICT.  205 

out  being  detected.  She  explains  that  the  mak- 
ing of  the  '^  raps/' when  she  is  stationed  on  glass 
tumblers,  requires  a  far  greater  effort  than  when 
her  feet  are  in  contact  with  the  caipet  or  floor. 
The  shock  must  in  that  case  be  conveyed  through 
a  comparatively  non-conducting  substance.  For 
this  reason,  when  the  floor  was  especially  hard  or 
thick  and  lacking  in  sonorousness,  she  sometimes 
failed  in  the  expected  effect.  In  every  instance, 
it  was  most  difficult  to  produce  the  ''raps"  under 
those  circumstances. 


The  verdict,  however,  is  now  complete.  Spirit- 
ualism is  guilty. 

The  court  of  mankind  so  declares  it. 


rv. 

REPENTANCE. 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

THE  HEART  PLEADS  FOR  THE  SOUL. 

The  most  interesting  feature,  after  all,  of  Mar- 
garet Fox's  career,  was  perhaps  that  sad  and 
abortive  romance  of  which  Dr.  Elisha  Kent  Kane, 
the  gallant  Arctic  explorer,  was  the  hero.  This 
history  should  be  known  to  the  reader  in  order 
that  the  exact  aspect  of  Spiritualism  to  her  devel- 
oped conscience  in  after  years  may  be  understood. 

Dr.  Kane  first  saw  Maggie  Fox  in  the  autumn 
of  1852,  when  she  was  staying  with  her  mother 
at  a  hotel  in  Philadelphia,  being  then  engaged  in 
"  spiritualistic  manifestations."  Dr.  Kane,  whose 
heart  had  never  before  been  touched,  at  once 
succumbed  to  the  sweet  charm  of  this  erratic 
child,  and  conceived  the  romantic  idea  of  remov- 
ing her  from  the  life  she  then  was  leading,  edu- 

[209] 


210  THE    UEART   PLEADS    FOR   THE    SOUL. 

eating  her  and  marrying  her.  The  project,  when 
it  became  known,  awakened  the  bitter  hostihty 
of  his  friends,  and  from  this  hostihty,  the  unfor- 
tunate separation  between  them  which  it  caused, 
and  Dr.  Kane's  untimely  death,  all  of  the  sorrow 
that  afterwards  engulfed  her  life  and  deprived 
her  of  the  ambition  for  a  nobler  career,  directly 
sprang. 

Margaret  was  but  thirteen  years  old  when  Dr. 
Kane  first  saw  her.  A  friendly  hand*  has  thus 
traced  her  portrait  : 

'^  Her  beauty  was  of  that  dehcate  kind  which 
grows  on  the  heart,  rather  than  captivates  the 
sense  at  a  glance  ;  she  possessed  in  a  high  degree 
that  retiring  modesty  which  shuns  rather  than 
seeks  admiration.  The  position  in  which  she  was 
placed  imposed  on  her  unusual  reserve  and  self- 
control,  and  an  ordinary  observer  might  not  have 
seen  in  her  aught  to  make  a  sudden  impression. 
But  there  was  more  than  beauty  in  the  charm 

*The  author  of  "  The  Love-Life  of  Dr.  Kane ;"  published  by 
Carleton,  1865,  New  York. 


THE    HEART    PLEADS    FOE   THE   SOUL.  211 

about  her  discerned  by  the  penetrating  eyes  of 
her  new  acquaintance.  The  winning  grace  of  her 
modest  demeanor,  and  the  native  refinement 
apparent  in  every  look  and  movement,  word  and 
tone,  were  evidences  of  a  natm^e  enriched  with  all 
the  qualities  that  dignify  and  adorn  womanhood  ; 
of  a  soul  far  above  her  present  calhng,  and  those 
who  smTOunded  her.  To  appreciate  her  real 
superiority,  her  age  and  the  circumstances  must 
be  considered.  She  was  yet  a  httle  child — untu- 
tored, except  in  the  elements  of  instruction  to  be 
gained  in  country  district  schools,  when  it  was 
discovered  that  she  possessed  a  mysterious 
power,*  for  which  no  science  or  theory  could 
account.  This  brought  her  at  once  into  notoriety 
and  gathered  around  her  those  who  had  a  fancy 
for  the  supernatural,  and  who  loved  to  excite  the 
wonder    of    strangers.     Most  little    girls    would 

*  This  form  of  expression  was  here  used  because  the  author 
of  "The  Love-Life,"  while  not  a  believer  in  Spiritualism,  did 
not  wish  to  imply  in  a  work  that  had  Mrs.  Kane's  personal 
sanction,  the  slightest  doubt  of  the  sincerity  of  her  professions  or 
of  her  claims  as  a  "medium." 


212  THE    HEART   PLEADS    FOR   THE    SOUL. 

have  been  spoiled  by  that  kind  of  attention.  The 
endurance  of  it  without  having  her  head  turned, 
argued  rare  delicacy,  simphcity  and  firmness  of 
character.  After  exhibitions  given  in  different 
cities,  to  find  herself  an  object  of  public  attention, 
and  of  flattering  notice  from  persons  of  distinc- 
tion, would  naturally  please  the  vanity  of  a  beau- 
tiful young  girl ;  and  it  would  not  be  surprising  if 
a  degree  of  self-conceit  were  engendered.  But 
Margaret  was  not  vain,  and  could  not  be  made 
self -conceited.  If  she  had  any  consciousness  of 
her  exquisite  loveliness, — if  it  pleased  her  to 
possess  pretty  dresses  and  ornaments — her  delight 
was  that  of  a  happy  child  taking  pleasure  in 
beautiful  things,  without  reference  to  any  effect 
they  might  enable  her  to  produce.  Perhaps  no 
young  girl  ever  lived  more  free  from  the  least  idea 
of  coquetry  or  conquest.  She  heeded  not  the 
expressions  of  admiration  that  reached  her  ear  so 
frequently.  She  had  seen  enough  of  the  world  at 
this  time  to  be  aware  of  the  advantages  of  a 
superior  education,  and  it  was  the  most  ardent 


THE   HEART  PLEADS  FOR  THE  SOUL.  213 

wish  of  her  heart  to  make  herself  a  well-educated 
woman." 

Margaret  showed  a  disposition  to  devote  her- 
self with  great  industry  to  the  acquirement  of 
knowledge.  In  fact,  at  her  first  meeting  with  Dr. 
Kane,  he  found  her  conning  over  a  French  exer- 
cise in  an  interval  of  the  public  receptions  which 
were  given  by  herself  and  her  mother.  Dr.  Kane 
easily  enlisted  her  thoughts  in  a  better  and  higher 
career.  The  deception  which  was  required  of  her 
ah-eady  appeared  in  something  of  its  true  light  to 
her  young  mind,  and  she  was  restless  under  its 
abhorrent  shackles.  Dr.  Kane's  interest  in  her 
was  certainly  pure  and  elevated,  and  it  led  him  to 
gloomy  apprehensions  of  the  fate  of  so  fair,  yet  so 
misguided,  a  creature.  He  wrote  in  verse  a 
prophecy  that  she  would  ^'live  and  die  forlorn." 
There  have  been  many  times  when  the  latter  part 
of  this  warning  seemed  most  hkely  to  come  true  ; 
^nd  that,  doubtless,  would  have  been  her  fate  had 
she  not  found  in  a  final  renunciation  of  her  past, 
a  solace  to  her  heart  for  the  lack  of  that  falsely 


214  THE   HEART  PLEADS   FOR  THE   SOtJL. 

won  prosperity  which  had  been  hers  during  but 
brief  intervals. 

Dr.  Kane  was  but  an  indifferent  versifier ;  but 
some  of  the  trifles  in  rhyme  which  he  addressed 
to  Margaret  may  well  illustrate  certain  facts  that 
I  shall  state  at  length  hereafter.  One  day,  he 
sent  her  '^  Thoughts  that  Ought  to  Be  Those  of 
Maggie  Fox,"  the  first  refrain  of  which  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  Dreary,  dreary,  dreary, 

Passes  life  away. 
Dreary,  dreary,  dreary. 

The  day 
Glides  on,  and  loeary 

Is  my  hypocrisy." 

At  the  close  of  the  second  stanza  were  these 
lines : 

*'  Happy  as  tlic  hopes 

Which  filled  my  trusting  heart. 
Before  I  knew  a  sinful  wish 
Or  learned  a  sinful  art." 


.THE  HEART  PLEADS   FOR  THE   80TJL.  215 

Again : 

*'  So  long  this  secret  have  I  kept 
I  can^t  forswear  it  now. 
It  festers  in  my  bosom. 
It  cankers  in  my  heart. 
Thrice  cursed  is  the  slave  fast  chained 
To  a  deceitful  art  I" 
And  last  : 

''  Then  the  maiden  knelt  and  prayed : 

^  Father,  my  anguish  see  ; 

Oh,  give  me  but  one  trusting  hope 

Whose  heart  will  shelter  me  ; 
One  trusting  love  to  share  my  griefs. 
To  snatch  me  from  a  life  forlorn ; 
That  I  may  never,  never,  never. 
Thus  endlessly  from  night  to  morn. 
Say  that  my  life  is  dreary 
With  its  hypocrisy  r^ 

Among  the  first  words  that  Dr.  Kane  spoke  to 
Margaret  were  these  :  ''  This  is  no  life  for  you, 
my  child."  As  their  reciprocal  attraction  grew 
stronger,  he  bent  all  of  his  deep  influence  over 
her  in  one  direction,  to  effect  once  and  for  all  her 
release  from  the  fatal  snare  of  deceit  that  fate  had 


216  THE   HEART   PtEADS  J'OR  THE  SOUt. 

cast  about  her.  Only  a  few  weeks  later  we  find 
him  writing  her  a  note  from  New  York,  in  which 
he  says : 

^*  Look  at  the  Herald  of  this  morning.  There 
is  an  account  of  a  suicide  which  causes  some 
excitement.  Your  sister's*  name  is  mentioned 
in  the  inquest  of  the  coroner.  Oh,  how  much  I 
wish  that  you  would  quit  this  life  of  dreary  same- 
ness and  unsuspected  deceit.  We  live  in  this 
world  only  for  the  good  and  noble.  How  crush- 
ing it  must  be  to  occupy  with  them  a  position  of 
ambiguous  respect !" 

Dr.  Kane,  a  short  time  afterwards,  described 
Maggie  as  follows : 

"  But  it  is  that  strange  mixture  of  child  and 
woman,  of  simplicity  and  cunning,  of  passionate 
impulse  and  extreme  self-control,  that  has  made 
you  a  curious  study.  Maggie,  you  are  very 
pretty,  very  childhke,  very  deceitful,  but  to  me 
as  readable  as  my  grandmother's  Bible." 

*  Leah. 


TflE   HEART   PLEADS   FOR  THE   SOtJL.  217 

*^  And  again  he  said  :  "  When  I  think  of  you^ 
dear  darhng,  wasting  your  time  and  youth  and 
conscience  for  a  few  paltry  dollars,  and  think  of 
the  crowds  who  come  nightly  to  hear  of  the  wild 
stories  of  the  frigid  North,  I  sometimes  feel  that 
we  are  not  so  far  removed  after  all.  My  brain 
and  your  body  are  each  the  sources  of  attraction, 
and  I  confess  that  there  is  not  so  much  differ- 
ence." 

Never  for  an  instant  did  the  manly  and  robust 
intellect  of  Dr.  Kane  stoop  to  the  level  of  even  a 
partial  belief  in  the  pretended  wonders  of  *'  Spirit- 
ituahsm."  The  allusions  made  to  it  in  his  letters, 
when  not  grave  or  indignant,  are  full  of  a  certain 
contemptuous  playfulness,  well  calculated  to 
reprove  the  conscious  deceitfulness  practised  by 
the  childish  Maggie,  while  not  offending  the  nat- 
ural pride  which  was  yet  a  part  of  her  imperfectly 
formed  character.  When  the  doctor  was  in  Bos- 
ton, he  wrote  to  her  sister  Katie  : 

''  Well,  now  for  talk.  Boston  is  a  funny  place, 
and  '  the  spirits '  have  friends  here.    You  would 


218  THE  HEART   PLEADS   FOE  THE   SOUL. 

be  surprised  if  I  told  you  what  I  have  heard. 
*  *  *  There  are  some  things  that  I  have  seen 
which  I  think  would  pain  you.  Maggie  would 
only  laugh  at  them  ;  but  with  me  it  gave  cause 
for  sadness.  I  saw  a  young  man  with  a  fine  fore- 
head and  expressive  face,  but  a  countenance 
deeply  tinged  with  melancholy,  seize  the  hand 
of  this  ^medium,'  whose  name — as  I  never  tell 
other's  secrets— I  cannot  tell  you.  He  begged 
her  to  answer  a  question  which  I  could  not  hear. 
Instantly  she  rapped,  and  his  face  assumed  a  pos- 
itive agony  ;  the  rapping  continued  ;  his  pain 
increased  ;  I  leaned  forward,  feeling  an  utter 
detestation  for  the  woman  who  could  inflict  such 
torment ;  but  it  was  too  late.  A  single  rap  came 
and  he  fell  senseless  in  a  fit.  This  I  saw  with 
my  own  eyes. 

^'  Now,  Katie,  although  you  and  Maggie  have 
never  gone  so  far  as  this,  yet  circumstances  must 
occur  where  you  have  to  lacerate  the  feelings  of 
other  people.  I  know  that  you  have  a  tender 
heart ;  but  practice  in  anything  hardens  us.    You 


THE   HEAET   PLEADS   FOR  THE   SOUL.  219 

do  things  now  which  you  would  never  have 
dreamed  of  doing  years  ago  ;  and  there  will  come 
a  time  when  you  will  be  woi-se  than  Leah ;  a 
hardened  woman,  gathering  around  you  the  vic- 
tims of  a  delusion.  -^  *  *  The  older  you  grow 
the  more  difficult  it  will  be  to  liberate  yourself 
from  this  thing.  And  can  you  look  forward  to  a 
life  unblessed  by  the  affections,  unsoothed  by  the 
consciousness  of  doing  right  »  *  *  *  When 
your  mother  leaves  this  scene,  can  you  and  *  * 
Maggie  he  content  to  live  that  life  of  constant 
deceit  f 

To  Maggie,  Dr.  Kane  wrote  from  the  sincerest 
depths  of  his  heart,  recalling  the  first  moment 
when  he  saw  her,  *'a  little  Priestess,  cunning  in 
the  mysteries  of  her  temple,  and  weak  in  every- 
thing but  the  power  with  which  she  played  her 
part.  A  sentiment  almost  of  pity  stole  over  his 
wordly  heart  as  he  saw  through  the  disguise." 

And  again:  '^Waddy-  called  on  me  to-day, 
as  did  Tallmadge  ;t  I  was  kind  to  both  for  your 

*  General  Waddy  Thompson,     t  Ex-Governor  Tallmadge. 


220  THE   HEART  PLEADS  FOE  THE  SOUL- 

sake.  Waddy  talked  much  about  you.  He  said 
that  he  feared  for  you,  and  spoke  long  and  well 
upon  the  dangers  and  temptations  of  your  present 
life.  I  said  httle  to  him  other  than  my  convic- 
tions of  your  own  and  your  sister's  excellent 
character  and  'pure  simplicity  f  for  thus,  Mag,  I 
always  talk  of  you.  And  it  pained  me  to  find 
that  others  viewed  your  hf e  as  I  did,  and  regarded 
you  as  occupying  an  ambiguous  position.  Depend 
upon  it,  Maggie,  no  right-minded  gentleman — 
whether  he  be  believer  or  sceptic — can  regard 
your  present  life  with  approval.  Let  this,  dear 
sweet,  make  you  think  over  the  offer  of  the  one 
friend  who  would  stretch  out  an  arm  to  save  you. 

Think  wisely,  dear  darhng,  ere  it  be  too  late. 
*    *    * 

*' Maggie,  you  cannot  tell  the  sadness  that 
comes  over  me  when  I  think  of  you.  What  will 
become  of  you  ?  you,  the  one  being  that  I  regard 
even  before  myself  I    *    '^    '^ 

**If  you  really  can  make  up  your  mind  to 


THE    HEART   PLEADS    FOR   THE    SOUL.  221 

abjure  the  spirits,  to  study  and  improve  your 
mental  and  moral  nature,  it  may  be  that  a  career 
of  brightness  will  be  open  to  you  ;  and  upon  this 
chance,  slender  as  it  is,  I  offer,  Hke  a  true  friend, 
to,  guard  and  educate  you.  But,  Mag,  clouds,  and 
darkness  rest  upon  the  execution  of  your  good 
resolves  ;  and  I  sometimes  doubt  whether  }'0u 
have  the  firmness  of  mind  to  carry  them 
through." 

The  author  of  "  The  Love-Life  of  Dr.  Kane," 
says  of  this  period  : 

*'Dr.  Kane  was  very  often  in  the  habit  of  say- 
ing— as  if  mth  melancholy  presentiment — '  What 
would  become  of  you  if  I  should  die  ?  What 
would  you  do  ?  I  shudder  at  the  thought  of  my 
death,  on  your  account.' 

'^In  the  buoyant  confidence  of  youth,  the  poor 
girl  could  not  then  understand  his  fears.  But  he 
knew  that  in  separating  her  from  Spirituahsm  he 
was  isolating  her  from  all  her  friends  and  asso- 
ciates, and  depriving  her  of  the  only  means  she 
possessed  of  earning  a  livelihood.    In  compensa- 


222  THE    HEART    PLEADS    FOR    THE    SOUL. 

tion  for  the .  sacrifices  required  of  her,  he  was  giv- 
ing her  a  hope  only  ;  a  hope  that  might  be  bhss- 
fuUy  reahzed,  but  might  be  sadly  disappointed ; 
and  in  the  event  of  losing  him,  what  must  be  her 
destiny  ! " 

Dr.  Kane  met  with  malignant  opposition  from 
Leah,  Maggie's  elder  sister,  in  his  efforts  to 
detach  her  from  the  damning  career  into  which 
she  had  been  thrown.  The  ^'  shekels"  were  then 
pouring  in  in  great  abundance  at  the  seances,  and 
this  explains  sufficiently  the  hostile  attitude  of 
the  one  person  who  was  chiefly  responsible  for 
the  ruin  of  her  young  life.  Thus  the  doctor 
wrote  to  Maggie  in  New  York  : 

*'Is  the  old  house  dreary  to  you?  -^^  *  * 
Oh,  Maggie,  are  you  never  tired  of  this  tveary, 
weary  sameness  of  continual  deceit  f  Are  you 
thus  to  spend  your  days,  doomed  never  to  rise  to 
better  things  ? — you  and  that  dear  little  open- 
minded  sister  Kate  (for  she,  too,  is  still  unversed 
in  deception) — are  you  both  to  live  on  thus  for- 
ever ?    You  will  never  be  happy  if  you  do ;  for 


THE    HEAKT    PLEADS    FOR   THE    SOUL.  223 

you  are  not,  like  Leah,  able  to  exult  and  take 
pleasui'e  in  the  simplicity  of  the  poor,  simple- 
hearted  fools  around  you. 

^^  Do,  then,  Maggie,  keep  to  your  last  promise. 
Show  this  to  Katie,  and  urge  her  to  keep  to  her 
resolution."* 

By  this  time,  Maggie  had  pledged  herself  to 
her  lover  to  abandon  the  ^'  rappings  "  altogether ; 
but  they  were  both  very  cautious  lest  this  resolu- 
tion should  be  known  to  her  elder  sister.  Maggie 
appears  to  have  yielded  to  the  influences  around 
her,  in  spite  of  her  respect  and  regard  for  the 
doctor,  and  once  or  twice  to  have  lapsed  back  into 
the  ways  that  he  dreaded  and  abhorred.  We  find 
him  then,  writing  from  New  York  to  Washing- 
ton : 

*^  Don't  rap  for  Mrs.  Pierce,  t  Eemember  your 
promise  to  me.     -^^    *    ^ 

*  Katie,  as  well  as  her  sister,  had  promised  to  abjure  the 
"  spirits,"  and  she  had  also  said  that  she  would  go  to  live  with 
Maggie  on  the  latter's  marriage  with  Dr.  Kane. 

t  The  wife  o'f  the  President  Qf  the  United  States. 


224  THE    HEART   PLEADS   FOR   THE    SOUL. 

^^  Begin  again,  dearest  Maggie,  and  keep  your 
word.  No  '  rapping '  for  Mrs.  Pierce  or  ever  more 
for  any  one.  I,  dear  Mag,  am  your  best,  your 
truest,  your  only  friend.  What  are  they  to  my 
wishes  ?  Oh,  regard  and  love  me,  and  listen  to 
my  words ;  and  be  very  careful  lest  in  an  idle 
hour  you  lose  my  regard  and  your  own  respect." 

And  later  : 

^^  All  last  night  did  this  good  friend  of  yours 
think  about  you  and  your  probable  future. 

^^I  can  see  that  this  is  one  of  the  turning 
points  of  your  life,  and  upon  your  own  energy 
and  decision  now  depend  the  success  and  happi- 
ness of  your  future  career.  Dear  Maggie,  think 
it  over  well  and  do  not  he  turned  aside  from  what 
is  right  by  the  sincere  but  still  misguided  advice 
of  others.  "^  *  ■^*  But  remember,  Maggie,  that 
all  this  will  not  last.  *  *  *  What  wiU  it  be 
when,  looking  back  upon  *  *  ^  misspent  and 
dreary  years,  you  feel  that  there  have  been  no 
acts  really  acceptable  to  your  Maker,  and  that  for 


THE   HEART  PLEADS   FOR  THE   SOUL.  225 

the  years  ahead,  all  will  be  sorrow,  sameness  and 
disgust !  ^    *    * 

"Why,  you  know  that  sometimes,  even  now, 
when  Leah  is  cross,  or  the  company  coarse  and 
vulgar,  or  the  day  tiresome,  or  yourself  out  of 
sorts,  that  low  spirits  and  disgust  come  over  you 
and  you  long  hke  a  bird  to  spread  your  wingrs 
and  fly  away  from  it  all." 

Very  soon  afterwards,  Dr.  Kane  wrote  ; 

"At  present,  you  have  nothing  to  look  for- 
ward to,  nothing  to  hope  for.  Your  Hfe  is  one 
constant  round  of  idle  excitement.  Can  your 
mother,  who  is  an  excellent  woman,  look  upon 
you,  a  girl  of  thirteen,  as  doomed  all  your  life  to 
hve  surrounded  by  such  as  now  surround  you, 
deprived  of  all  the  blessings  of  Jiome  and  love  and 
even  self-respect  ?" 

Dr.  Kane,  looking  upon  Margaret  as  his  future 
wife,  was  exceedingly  anxious  that  the  true 
explanation  of  the  "  rappings,"  the  fact  that  they 
were  entirely  fraudulent,  should  never  be  dis- 
covered.    He  hoped  that  Spiritualism  would  have 


226  THE   HEART   PLEADS   FOR   THE   SOUL. 

but  an  ephemeral  existence,  and  that  when 
once  it  had  died  out,  the  pubHc  would  so  far  for- 
get the  persons  who  originated  it,  that  it  would 
cease  to  associate  with  them  the  woman  who 
would  then  bear  his  name.  So  he  wrote  in  this 
vein  to  Maggie  : 

"You  know  I  am  nervous  about  the  'rap- 
pings.'  I  beheve  the  only  thing  I  ever  was 
afraid  of  was  this  confounded  thing  being  found 
out.  I  would  not  know  it  myself  for  ten  thou- 
sand dollars." 

How  both  Margaret  and  Dr.  Kane  regarded 
the  elder  sister  may  be  judged  from  this  sentence, 
written  by  the  latter  at  this  time  :  ''  Be  careful 
not  to  mention  me  before  the  Tigress." 

At  last  the  object  dearest  to  Dr.  Kane's  heart 
seemed  to  be  drawing  near  to  its  accomplishment. 
He  says  ;  '*  Your  kind  promise  'solemnly  never 
to  rap  again '  so  pleases  me,  that  I  cannot  help 
thanking  you.  Adhere  to  that,  and  you  will  be  a 
dear,  good,  happy  girl."  '^    '^    * 

Maggie    went  to  school  at  Crookville,   near 


THE    HEART   PLEADS   FOE   THE    SOUL.  227 

Chester,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  in  charge  of  Dr. 
Kane's  aunt,  Mrs.  Leiper,  who  resided  near  the 
house  where  Maggie  lodged.  Just  prior  to  this, 
Dr.  Kane  wrote  as  follows  : 

'^  Never  do  wrong  any  more  ;  for  if  noiu  '  the 
spirits  move '  it  luill  he  a  breach  of  faith.  From 
this  moment,  our  compact  begins." 

After  Dr.  Kane  had  reached  the  Arctic  seas,  I 
find  this  passage  at  the  end  of  a  long  letter,  full 
of  solicitude  and  noble  counsel  about  the  educa- 
tion of  his  future  wife:  '^One  final  wish— the 
only  thing  hke  restraint  that  your  true  friend  can 
find  it  in  his  heart  to  utter :  See  little  of  Leah, 
and  never  sleep  within  her  house." 

For  a  short  time,  on  his  return  from  his  second 
Arctic  voyage.  Dr.  Kane  allowed  himself  to  be 
swayed  by  interest  and  the  vehement  efforts  of 
his  relatives,  so  far  as  to  require  from  Margaret  a 
written  declaration  that  they  had  never  been 
engaged,  and  that  she  had  no  claim  whatever 
upon  his  hand  in  matrimony.  There  was  a 
quick  reaction,  however,  and  the  old  relations 


228  THE    HEART   PLEADS   FOR   THE    SOUL. 

were  renewed.  Oue  who  wrote  of  these  facts 
said :  Amid  all  his  sorrow,  one  fear  seemed  to 
harass  him  perpetually — that  Miss  Fox  might  be 
induced  to  return  to  the  professional  life  she  had 
abandoned  years  ago  for  his  sake.  She  was  sur- 
rounded by  spiritualists."        *        *        * 

In  his  letters  to  her,  Dr.  Kane  still  harped 
upon  the  one  anxiety  that  continually  possessed 
him.  He  says:  ''Do  avoid  'spirits.'^  I  can- 
not hear  to  think  of  you  as  engaged  in  a  com^se 
of  wickedness  and  deception.  *  *  *  Pardon 
my  saying  so ;  but  is  it  not  deceit  even  to  listen 
when  others  are  deceived?  *  *  *  jj^ 
childhood  it  was  a  mere  indiscretion ;  but  what 
will  it  be  when  hard  age  wears  its  wrinkles  into 
you,  and  like  Leah  you  grow  old!  Dear  Maggie,  I 
could  cry  to  think  of  it.*  *  *  A  time  will 
come  when  you  will  see' the  real  ghost  of  mem- 
ory— an  awful  specter!" 

And  again  he  wrote :  ''Maggie,  I  have  hut  one 
thought,  how  to  make  you  happier ;  how  to  with- 


THE   HEAET   PLEADS   FOR   THE   SOtTL.  229 

draw  you  from  deception  ;  from  a  course  of  sin 
and  future  punishment,  the  dark  shadow  of  which 
hung  over  you  like  the  vnng  of  a  vampire^ 

Then,  as  he  claimed  her  more  and  more  openly 
as  his  own,  '^he  would  not  permit  her,"  says  the 
writer  already  quoted,  ^'even  to  witness  any 
spiritual  manifestations,  nor  to  remain  in  the 
room  when  the  subject  was  discussed.  *  *  * 
^  You  never  shall  be  brought  in  contact  with  such 
things  again,'  he  would  say." 

The  ending  of  this  very  sad  tale  of  love, 
which  throws  a  pecuhar  light  athwart  the  colder 
theme  of  this  volume,  was  bitterly  tragic.  A 
secret  marriage  under  the  common  law  was 
entered  into,  and  Dr.  Kane,  whose  health  was 
shattered  never  to  be  mended,  went  first  to 
Europe  and  then  to  Cuba  to  die.  Margaret  and 
her  mother  were  to  join  him  at  Havana,  but  ere 
their  departure  from  New  York  he  was  already  a 
corpse. 

And  so,  a  noble  and  generous,  if  sometimes 
faltering    heart,   ceased  to    beat,   and    a    gentle. 


230  THE   HEART   PLEADS   FOR   THE   SOtTL. 

creature,  who  at  last  had  learned  to  love  as  much 
as  she  had  honored  him,  was  on  the  shores  of 
that  deep  sea  of  infamy  against  which,  had  he 
only  hved,  he  would  surely  have  shielded  her. 


FBOM   SHADOW   TO   LIGHT.  231 


CHAPTER  XV. 


PROM  SHADOW  TO  LIGHT. 


More  than  thirty  years  after  this  sorrowful 
event,  Margaret  Fox  Kane,  in  reviewing  the  past, 
attributes  to  the  evil  of  Spirituahsm  all  the  ill- 
fortune  which  afterwards  befell  her. 

For  fourteen  years  she  wore  the  weeds  of 
mourning  for  his  sake ;  but  when  at  last  they 
were  torn  from  her  by  a  friendly,  though  unwise 
hand,  she  drifted  again,  through  the  various 
phases  of  a  worldly  and  dissipated  hfe,  to  that 
very  vocation  of  dreary  mercenary  deceit  which 
he  had  predicted  would  be  her  lot.  She  was 
never  happy  afterwards,  however,  and  he  who 
possesses  any  true  sensibility  must  at  least  pity, 
quite  as  much  as  he  may  condemn  her  unfortu- 
nate destiny,  when  he  reads  the  sad  avowals 
which  are  made  in  this  volume. 


232  FROM   SHADOW   TO   LIGHT. 

Mrs.  Kane  says  at  the  present  day  : 
*  ^  From  the  very  first  of  our  intimate  acquaint- 
ance, Dr.  Kane  knew  that  the  ^  rappings '  which 
I  practiced  were  fraudulent.  Of  course,  he  was 
too  keen -sighted  intellectually,  too  sensible,  ever 
to  have  believed  them  genuine  for  a  single 
instant ;  and  I  simply  obeyed  the  impulse  of  my 
candid  regard  for  him,  when  the  knowledge  of 
his  devotion  grew  upon  me,  and  confided  to  him 
the  whole  secret  of  the  fraud,  together  with  my 
increasing  repugnance  to  the  life  I  was  leading. 
He  hated  it,  he  despised  it,  he  abhorred  it,  and  he 
taught  me  from  the  beginning  the  same  senti 
ment.  We  had  to  combat  with  the  sordid  inter- 
est of  others.  Whatever  good  he  accomplished 
for  me,  was  done  against  the  set  purpose  of  Leah. 
^^  I  do  not  exaggerate  in  any  way  when  I  say 
that  I  have  feared  that  woman  all  my  life. 
Eemember,  she  is  twenty- three  years  older  than 
I  am.  Her  influence  over  both  myself  and  my 
sister  Kate  began  when  we  were  infants.  Katie, 
even  to  this  day,   acknowledges    some    sinister 


FROM   SHADOW   TO   LIGHT.  233 

influence  about  her  sister  Leah,  even  if  she  but 
chance  to  meet  her  in  the  street.  It  is  a  mixture 
of  terrorism  and  cajolery. 

*'For  years  I  have  had  the  shame  of  this  vile 
thing  before  me.  All  my  life,  it  has  made  me 
miserable.  It  is  a  load  which  I  now  throw  off 
with  a  free  heart  and  a  great  and  thriUing  sense 
of  relief 

"  You  must  know  that  it  was  a  dark  and  hate- 
ful influence  that  kept  me  aloof  from  Dr.  Kane 
so  long,  when  he  declared  his  true  love  for  me, 
over  and  over  again,  and  desired  to  rescue  me 
from  the  evil  by  which  I  was  surrounded.  I  gave 
him  my  whole  heart  in  return,  though  at  that 
time  I  did  not  know  how  deep  and  how  tender 
was  my  love  for  him. 

''It  is  this  same  baleful  influence  which  has 
been  the  nightmare  of  my  existence.  Every 
morning  of  my  life  on  awaking,  I  have  had  this 
horrid  thought  before  me  And  even  in  those 
younger  days  I  would  brood  and  brood  over  it, 
and  Dr.  Kane  would  often  say  to  me ; 


234:  FROM   SHADOW   TO   LIGHT. 

'^ '  Maggie,  I  see  the  vampire  is  hovering  over 
you  still.' 

*^Our  whole  family  was  at  that  time  under 
bondage,  as  it  were,  to  Ann  Leah  Brown.  She 
ruled  over  us  as  with  a  rod  of  iron. 

"All  through  this  dreadful  life— from  the  time 
when  I  first  realized  its  enormity — I  protested 
against  it.  Dr.  Kane,  after  our  marriage,  would 
never  permit  me  to  allude  to  my  old  career— he 
wanted  me  to  forget  it.     He  hated  its  pubhcity. 

*'  But  when  I  was  poor  after  his  death,  I  was 
driven  back  to  it.  I  have  told  my  sister  Leah 
over  and  again  :  *  Now  that  you  are  rich,  why 
don't  you  save  your  soul  ?  But  she  would  only  fly 
into  a  passion.  The  truth  is  that  nothing  can 
excuse  the  work  she  has  done.  She  entered  upon 
it  at  the  age  of  judgment  and  experience,  fully 
aware  of  its  falsity  and  evil  effect.  She  knows 
that  the  world  cannot  forgive  her,  and  I  have  no 
hope  that  she  will  ever  confess  her  sin,  or  offer 
an  atonement  for  it: 

**  What  can  I  add  to  the  revelations  of  those 


FEOM   SHADOW  TO   LIGHT.  235 

letters  ?  They  are  proofs  of  the  mutual  knowledge 
of  Dr.  Kane  and  myself  that  the  ^  spiritual '  rap- 
pings  '  were  fraud,  and  nothing  but  fraud.  And 
even  if  he  had  not  been  told  of  the  fact  by  myself, 
his  opportunities  of  observation  in  our  household 
were  unequaled  by  any  granted  to  others,  and 
his  verdict  would  have  been  in  any  case,  there- 
fore, almost  as  authoritative. 

''What  fools  are  they  who  still  pretend  to 
beheve  against  all  this  evidence  ! 

''It  would  hardly  seem  necessary  that  I  should 
denounce  Spirituahsm  after  all  that  others  have 
said  against  it. 

"I  have  never  in  my  Ufe  professed  to  be  a 
spiritualist,  and  I  have  never  believed  in  Spirit- 
uahsm, although  I  have  seen  it  in  all  its  phases, 
some  of  which  I  am  unable  to  produce  myself. 

"Even  when  I  was  compelled  to  go  back  to 
the  'rappings'  for  a  livelihood,  and  when  I 
charged  the  most  exorbitant  fees,  so  that  as  few 
people  as  possible  might  be  deceived,  I  had  on  my 


FROM   SHADOW  TO   LIGHT. 

cards  an  emphatic  disclaimer  of  any  occult  inspi- 
ration. 

Mrs.  Kane  at  this  point  showed  the  following 
on  the  back  of  one  of  her  cards  : 


Mrs.  Kane  does  not  claim 
ANY  Spirit  power  ;  but  people 

MUST  JUDGE  FOR  THEMSELVES. 


**  My  poor  father  and  mother,"  she  continued, 
*'both  knew  before  their  death  that  all  that  we 
had  practised  for  so  many  years  was  a  fraud  and 
a  deception.  Mother  was  greatly  troubled  about 
it,  and  she  turned  to  the  church  for  comfort. 
She  used  to  say  to  us  : 

*'  *0h,  my  dear  children,  I  do  hope  that  you 
will  get  out  of  this  sort  of  life  soon.' 

"Peace  be  unto  her  1" 


The  evil  effects  of  Spiritualism  upon  the  moral 
and  mental  condition  of  its  followers  is  the  deep- 


FROM   SHADOW    TO   LIGHT.  237 

est  stain  upon  its  history.  The  wrecks  of  thou- 
sands of  intellects  are  monuments  to  its  heartless 
fraud  and  malign  influence. 

Mrs.  Kane  has  often  said  that  if  in  her  late 
years  she  had  wholly  submitted  herself  to  its 
foolish  vagaries  and  its  base  temptations,  she 
would  undoubtedly  be  now  a  raving  maniac. 

There  are  many  who,  if  they  would  but  speak 
truly,  could  declare  that  ruin  of  conscience,  brain 
and  health,  has  resulted  either  from  their  willing 
faith  in  flimsy  illusions  or  their  weak  connivance 
in  puerile  deception. 

I  have  touched  but  Httle  upon  the  unclean  side 
of  Spiritualism.  Thousands  upon  thousands  of 
virtuous  men  and  women  entertain  its  theory  or 
hold  to  its  faith.  But  the  manipulators  of  the 
supernatural  machinery,  the  members  of  the  inner 
ckcle,  the  prestidigitateurs  and  clumsy  magicians, 
who  seek  to  make  simpletons  of  mankind,  I  now 
accuse  of  the  grossest  practices  and  abominations, 
the  loosest  social  ideas,  the  most  utter  absence  of 


238  FROM   SHADOW   TO   LIGHT. 

principle  that  has  been  exhibited  by  any  one  set 
of  people  in  the  nineteenth  century. 

They  are  wholly  corrupt,  and  there  is  no 
good  in  them. 

If  Spiritualism  in  any  form  survives  the  blow 
now  given  it  by  Margaret  and  Catherine  Fox, 
who  were  its  creators,  it  will  only  be  because  of 
the  veiled  licentiousness  introduced  into  it  by 
those  who  have  enlarged  upon  its  original  plan. 

This  licentiousness,  like  the  bruised  serpent, 
will  not  down,  but  still  will  hf  t  its  head,  and  lurk 
amid  deepest  shadows. 

SpirituaUsm,  however,  cannot  again  deceive 
the  world. 


And  it  is  written  : 

^^  The  dead  shall  not  return  ;  nor  any  that  go 
down  into  Hell  1" 


INDEX. 


INDEX. 


ABJURATION  by  Margaret  Fox  Kane  of  Spiritualism  at  the 

Academy  of  Music,  ISTew  York,  65,  74. 
ADMISSIONS  of  Mrs.  Leah  Fox  Fish  regarding  the  results  of 

the  Buffalo  medical  investigation,  140,  144. 
AGASSIZ  (Professor)  investigates  Spiritualism,  147. 
ANTICS  of  the  Fox  Children  at  Hydesville  near  Rochester,  83, 

87,  89,  96. 
ATTRACTIONS  of  the  younger  Fox  Sisters,  129. 
AUDACITY    (Imbecile)     of     spiritualistic    imposters,    146. — 

(Supreme)  of  fraud,  150. 
AUTHORIZATION  of  the  publication  of  this  work  by  Margaret 

Fox  Kane  and  Catherine  Fox  Jencken,  7. 
"B\BY  mediumship  " — How  the  trick  was  done  with  the  child 

of  Mrs.  Catherine  Fox  Jencken,  160. 
BELIEF  in  Spiritualism, — Mrs.  Kane  never  pretended  to  any, 

167,  181,  236.— John  D.  Fox  never  had  any,  99. 
"BOBBING"  of  apples  on  the  floor  in  the  Hydesville  house, 

84,  90,  95. 
BOO^IERANGS  (Spiritualistic),  131. 
BROWN  (Mrs.   Ann  Leah  Fox), — Malignant  opposition  to  Dr. 

Kane's  efforts  to  detach  her  sister  Maggie  from  Spiritual- 
ism,  222,  282.— Exulting    in    deception,   223.— Maggie 

warned  against  her  by  Dr.  Kane,  227. — Sinister  influence 

over  her  sisters,  232. 
'BUFFALO  Doctors  "—Their  investigation  of  the  "  rappings," 

181. — Their  correct  theory,  but  wrong  hypothesis,  131. — 

[241] 


242  INDEX. 

How  their  investigation  if  further  pursued,  would  have 
led  to  the  truth  133. 
**  CHARLES  Ceri"— The  "spirit  of  Mr.  Seybert "  mistakes  the 

name  of  Mr.  Sellers,  of  the  "  Seybert  Commission,"  171. 
CLAIMS  of  Spiritualism  as  set  forth  in  petition  to  Congress, 

1854,  151,  152. 
COMMITTEES  of  tools  and  accomplices,  121. 
CONDEMNATION  of  Spiritualism— The  substantial  -effect  of 

the  report  of  Harvard  professors  on  the  tests  in  Boston, 

1857,  149. 
CONCERTED  signals  used  in  the  early  seances,  127. 
CONSPICUOUS  persons  interelted  in  the  "Fox  Sisters,"  129. 
CONTACT  of  person  while  producing  the  "raps,"  90,  138. 
CORRUPT  practices  in  secret  spiritualistic  circles,  50,  64,  237. 
COVENTRY  (Dr.  C.  B.),  one  of  the  Buffalo  investigators,  132. 
CROOKVILLE,  near  Philadelphia— Maggie  Fox  goes  to  school 

there,  226. 
DEAD  (The)  do  not  return,  37,  238. 
DEATH  of  Dr.  Kane,  37. 
DERANGEMENT  of  mental  faculties  the  cause  of  the  prevalence 

of    the    spiritualistic    delusion,     154. — Resulting     from 

Spiritualism,  166. 
DISGUST  (Dr.  Kane's)  at  spiritualistic  circles,  225,  229.— (Mrs. 

Kane's)  at  the  baser  spiritualistic  practices,  29,  30. 
DISS  De  Bar  (Madam)— Mrs.  Kane's  abhorrence  of  her,  29.— Dan- 
iel Underbill  pronounces  her  a  fraud,  43. 
EARLY  sorcery  the  prototype  of  modern  Spiritualism,  150. 
EDUCATION  (Defective)  the  cause  of  the  prevalence  of  the  spir- 
itualistic delusion,  154. 
ELEVATION— Failure  of  Mrs.   Kane  to  produce   "rappings" 

when  standing  upon  a  lounge,  a  cushioned  chair  or  a 

step-ladder,  195. 
EXPOSURE.  Poetic  justice  of  the,  13.— Mrs.  Kane's  first  public 

intimation  of  intended.  29,  30. — Details  of  Mrs.  Kane's, 

82,  35,  37,  65,  77.— Of  Spiritualism  by  the  Guernillas, 

199. 


INDEX.  243 

FEAR  of  the  Fox  Sisters  of  their  sister,  Leah,  232. 

FISH  (Ann  Leah  Fox)  First  to  conceive  the  idea  of  profiting  by 
the  "  rappings,"  102. — Learns  to  "rap"  from  the  little 
children,  103, — Using  the  little  girls,  Maggie  and  Katie, 
for  her  purposes,  123.— Challenges  to  the  "  Buffalo  doc- 
tors," 139. 

FISH  (Lizzie) — Protesting  against  her  mother's  hypocrisy  and 
deception,  96,  128. 

FLINT  (Dr.  Austin),  one  of  the  Buffalo  investigators,  132. 

FOOT  (Movement  of  the)  in  producing  "rappings,"  38,  103,  143. 
— Detected  by  a  member  of  the  *'  Seybert  Commission," 
194.—"  Rappings"  not  heard  when  held,  but  heard  again 
when  released,  143. 

FORGED  testimony,  91. 

FOX  (Catherine) — First  to  discover  that  "raps"  could  be  pro- 
duced with  the  joints,  90. 

FOX  (David  S.) — First  to  suggest  use  of  the  alphabet  in  the 
so-called  "  spirit  messages,"  115. — Dupe  or  accomplice  of 
Leah,  115. 

FOX  (John  D.)— Never  a  believer  in  Spiritualism,  99. 

FOX  (Mrs.  Margaret) — An  honest  fanatic,  deceived  by  her  chil- 
dren, 36,  93.— Disabused  at  the  last,  236. 

FOX  (Maggie)— Her  beauty  at  thirteen  years,  210.— Petty  devil- 
ment in  childhood,  83. — Sent  to  school  at  Crook ville. 
Pa.,  by  Dr.  Kane,  226. — Protests  all  through  her  earlier 
life  against  "spiritualistic"  deception,  234. 

FOX  (Maria),  82. 

FULCRUM,  necessary  for  the  limb  in  order  to  produce  sound  by 
the  action  of  the  joints,  142. 

FURNESS  (Horace  Howard),  acting  chairman  of  the  "Seybert 
Commission  "—Letter  to  Mrs.  Kane,  169.— Explanation 
of  her  refusal  to  continue  the  seances  with  the  Commis- 
sion, 204. 

FRAUD— Dante's  image  of,  17.— Origin  of  the,  81.— Develop- 
ment of  the,  105. — Various  forms  of  the,  201. 


244  INDEX. 

FRAUDULENT— The  "  mediumsliip  "  of  Mrs.  Jencken's  baby, 
"Ferdie,"  160. 

GARBLED  testimony,  90,  94. 

"  GOD  has  not  ordered  it,"  25,  37. 

GOWNS  (Long)  put  on  the  younger  Fox  gh-ls  on  their  first  public 
appearance,  to  conceal  manner  of  producing  **raps," 
123. 

GREELEY  (Horace)— Aids  Katie,  19,  58,  129.— Influence  upon 
her  life,  129. 

GUERNILLAS  (The)— Exposure  of  Spiritualism,  199. 

"  HERALD  "  (The  N.  Y.),  25,  28,  29,  32,  39,  42,  46,  62. 

HISTORY  of  the  "  rappings,"  79. 

HARVARD  professors  investigate  Spiritualism,  147. 

HUMBUG  (Spiritualism  a,)  according  to  Mrs.  Kate  Fox  Jencken, 
57. 

HYDESVILLE,  N.  Y.— When  mysterious  sounds  were  first 
heard  in  John  D.  Fox's  house,  81. — Digging  in  the 
creek,  95. — Bones  of  a  horse  found,  118. — Digging  in  the 
cellar,  117. — Alleged  finding  of  human  bones,  uncon- 
firmed by  any  evidence,  117. — House  said  to  be  haunted — 
an  afterthought,  101.— The  "  spirits  "  when  asked  tenta- 
tively say  a  murder  was  committed  in  the  house  and 
mention  the  name  of  the  murderer,  119. 

HYPOCRISY  of  professional  spiritualists,  165.— Dr.  Kane  char- 
acterizes, 214,  215. 

INQUISITIVENESS  as  to  spiritualistic  methods  prevents  the 
"spirits"  from  acting,  146. 

INSULATION— Experiments  with  Mrs.  Kane  while  standing  on 
glass  tumblers,  185. — The  results  negative,  188, — Partial 
success  when  placed  near  a  sideboard  and  wall,  189, 
192. 

INVESTIGATION— First  farcical,  122,  124.— By  the  "Buffalo 
doctors,"  131,  134. — By  "Buffalo  doctors"  again,  131. — 
By  "  Seybert  Commission,"  170. — B}""  Harvard  professors 
and  others,  147. 

JENCKEN  (Mrs.  Catherine  Fox)  denounces  Spiritualism,  63,  64. 


INDEX.  245 

JOINTS  of  the  fingers. — Children  try  to  imitate  eounds  "with 
them,  87. 

JOINT  of  the  knee  used  in  the  production  of  "  raps,"  133. 

JOINTS  of  the  toes  used  in  producing  the  famous  "lappings'* 
of  the  Fox  sisters,  139,  145. 

JUGGLERY— Spiritualists  attribute  it  to  "  mediuraship,"  198.— 
Confess  that  "  spiritualistic"  effects  are  produced  in  the 
same  way,  199. — Older  and  more  skillful  than  Spiritual- 
ism so-called,  150,  154. 

KANE  (Dr.  Elisha  Kent)— First  meeting  with  Maggie  Fox,  209.— 
Influence  upon  her  life,  129.— Effect  of  his  death  on  her 
career,  230,  231.— Character  of  his  interest  in  her,  213.— 
Gloomy  foresight,  213. — Efforts  to  save  her  from  a  life 
of  fraud,  &c.,  129,  228.— Characterizes  the  deceit  and 
hypocrisy  of  "mediumship,"  214,  215,  216,  228.— Never 
believed  in  a  single  pretense  of  Spiritualism,  217,  232. — 
Knew  from  their  first  acquaintance  that  the  "rappings" 
were  fraudulent,  232. — Repeatedly  exacts  her  promise 
not  to  have  anything  more  to  do  with  Spiritualism,  223, 
226. — Solicitude  lest  she  return  to  the  practice  of  Spirit- 
ualism, 228. — Fear  lest  the  source  of  the  "rappings"  be 
discovered,  226.— Places  her  at  school,  226.— Engagement 
broken  off  and  renewed,  227. — Secret  marriage  with  her, 
229.— Death  at  Havana,  229. 

KNEES— Seized  by  investigators  to  detect  movement  while 
"rappings"  being  produced,  143. — When  so  seized, 
sounds  arrested,  and  when  released,  renewed,  143. 

LEE  (Dr.  Charles  A.),  one  of  the  Buffalo  investigators,  132. 

LETTER  of  Mrs.  Kane  first  publicly  denouncing  Spiritualism, 
30. 

LICENTIOUSNESS  under  the  cloak  of  Spiritualism,  237,  238. 

"MEDItJMS"  (Well-known)— How  they  received  the  expose, 
45,  46. 

"  MEDIUMSHIP  "— Mrs.  Kane  driven  back  to  it,  37, 

MESSAGES  (Written)— How  produced  by  Mrs.  Kane,  173,  196. 


246  INDEX. 

MESSAGES  ("  Spirit  ") — Internal  evidence  suflBicient  to  prove 
their  falsity,  163. 

MERCENARY  campaign— Begins  in  Rochester,  121,  126.— Tour 
of  principal  cities,  212,  222. 

MOVEMENT  of  knees  of  "medium"  noted  by  Dr.  Lee  while 
**  raps  "  were  heard,  143. 

ORIGIN  of  the  fraud,  81,  83,  87,  92. 

PERSECUTION  of  Mrs.  Catherine  Fox  Jencken  and  her  chil- 
dreu  by  spiritualistic  enemies,  60. 

PROPHECY  of  Dr.  Kane  concerning  the  future  of  Maggie  Fox, 
213. 

PROMISES  of  Maggie  Fox  to  Dr.  Kane  never  to  "rap"  any 
more,  223,  226. 

PRESIDENT  Pierce's  wife  and  Maggie  Fox,  223. 

PROFESSION  of  spiritualistic  belief— Mrs.  Kane  expressly  dis- 
claims it,  181,  234. 

**  RAPS  "—Failure  to  "  throw "  them  to  different  parts  of  a 
room,  184. — Always  heard  near  the  spot  where  "me- 
dium "  is  stationed,  136,  172,  173.— Effort  of  the  will  in 
producing  them  apparent,  136. —  Muscular  contractions 
their  possible  cause,  137. — Not  produced  while 
••mediums"  in  constrained  position,  142. —  Not  pro- 
duced while  feet  of  "mediums"  are  prevented  from 
touching  sonorous  substances,  185. — Vibrations  in  foot 
of  Mrs.  Kane,  felt  by  Mr.  Sellers  of  the  "  Seybert  Com- 
mission," 194. — Th(ur  physiological  origin,  202,  203. 

REPENTANCE— Mrs.  Catherine  Fox  Jencken,  58,  59.— Mrs. 
Margaret  Fox  Kane,  233. 

REPORTS  on  investigations  of  "  rappiugs,"  134,  141,  149,  173. 

ROCHESTER— Outlandish  doings  told  by  Mrs.  Uuderhill,  106, 
113. — Mrs,  Kane  gives  the  true  explanation  of  them, 
112. — First  public  appearances  of  the  Fox  Sisters,  121. 

SENATE  ridicules  Spiritualism  in  debate,  159. 

SLADE  (Henry)  admits  that  certain  magicians  produce  their 
effects  in  the  same  way  that  he  does,  199. 

BEYBERT  (Henry)— Crazed  by  Spiritualism,  1G6.— Mrs.  Kane 


INDEX.  247 

enters  the  "Spiritual  Mansion,"  164. — She  draws  the 
line  at  the  Apostles  and  the  Angel  Gabriel,  166.-1118 
legacy  for  the  investigation  of  Spiritualism,  167. — Ills 
*' spirit"  mistakes  the  identity  of  a  member  of  the 
"  Seybert  Commission"  and  calls  him  by  a  queer  name, 
171. — Though  he  knew  no  Latin  in  the  flesh,  his 
"  spirit "  is  made  to  write  Latin,  197. 

••  SEYBERT  Commission  "  (The)— Its  origin  and  labors,  167.— 
Experiments  with  Mrs.  Kane,  169. — Its  conclusions 
regarding  the  "rappings,"  168,  201.— On  other  phases 
of  Spiritualism,  201. 

SPIRITUALISM— Mrs.  Catherine  Fox  Jencken  says  it  is  the 
greatest  curse  the  world  has  ever  known,  56. 

SUPERSTITION— Traditions  in  the  Fox  family  about  queer 
happenings,  119. 

UNDERBILL  (Ann  Leah)— Her  narrative  proven  false,  38.— 
Sinister  influence  over  her  younger  sisters,  233. 

VERDICT  (The  unalterable),  201. 

VIBRATION  of  articles  when  "  medium's"  body  is  in  contact 
with  them  while  producing  raps,  138,  145, 

WARNINGS  of  Dr.  Kane  to  Maggie  and  Katie  Fox  against  a 
life  of  deception,  216,  219,  222,  225,  228,  229.— Against 
intercourse  with  lier  sister,  Leah,  227. 


Foni. 


MT>\Y  USE 


